Super Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Shadow Phenomenon
by sally.h.yi
Summary: A fan fiction continuation of Super Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Dark Matter from other planet is approaching Pokémon World, and it is up to Vivi and her new companions to stop It from taking The Tree of Life.
1. A New Threat Arises

**Chapter 1: A New Threat Arises**

Grendon and The Spirit of Life were chatting under The Tree of Friendship, facing the sunrise. The tree was a memorable landmark of where he and Vivi viewed Serene Village from afar. The reason why he chose this place was to discuss with The Spirit of Life in private. The Spirit of Life spoke:

"Dark Matter does not only exist in Pokémon World; it also exists in other planets inhabited by living creatures. Dark Matter regenerates slowly; but once it has gathered enough strength, it removes The Tree of Life from the planet; letting the living succumb to their own demise. Once its job is done, Dark Matter travels around the universe; looking for other planets to destroy. I have foreseen that one of them is heading towards our world; and it is stronger than the one we faced before. We might need to summon the heroes from other universe to save our world once more."

Grendon replied solemnly, "I see. However, _Hydreigon_ , I have lost my power to summon them. It is entirely up to your strength to do so. But, is it really applicable to summon them from their universe together? Isn't The Realm of Inbetween might be distorted while doing so?"

"I am aware of this. As long that no one is summoned here after one month, the realm will recover."

"I guess Worldcore accepted your proposal isn't it?"

"Yes. I have to discuss whatever I am doing to It after all."

He nodded, "Okay, you do it. I shall bring Vivi on this spot now."

She put her 'hands' together and made a prayer, "Alright. Here it goes!"

* * *

"Vivi! Wake up!"

Vivi barely opened her eyes to see a Mudskipper Pokémon, and yawned, "Grendon…it is our day off. Why must you wake me up so early in the morning?"

"I wanna show you something. Now let's go!"

She got up on her four stumpy legs and swung her leaf on her head, "Fine…I am up."

They made their way on top of the hill. Besides Hydreigon, she spotted three Pokémons around her. They were chatting about something. And when they mentioned they were humans, her leaf stood up. She dashed towards them and enquired of them:

"Wait…are you guys, humans?"

A female leaf tail lizard was the first to respond, "So…you are Vivi huh? You look adorable being a Chikorita! And yup! We are humans summoned by The Spirit of Life from the other worlds. My name is Maginvade the Snivy. Nice to meet you, Vivi!"

A green four-legged thin shelled tortoise with a sprout on her head said, "My name is Shuy. I have an ability to foresee the past and future. As you can see, I am a Turtwig."

"And I am Eterna the Braixen. I have a slightly different coloured fur from other Braixens. Well…you will understand later. It seems that we have to accompany you on a journey." continued the fire vixen.

" _Wow, Shuy is an esper or something?_ " thought Vivi, and she had a question to ask, "A journey? What is that?"

Grendon replied to her with a distressing look on his face, "Well you see Vivi, we have another quest; a world saving quest. Dark Matter from another planet is approaching here, and it is more powerful than the one we defeated before. That is why Hydreigon summoned the heroes from their universe to aid you."

"Oh…and what do you meant to aid me? Aren't you coming along?"

"Unfortunately, I shall carry on our duties as Pokémon Expedition Explorers. You will have to go with them without me."

"But…I understand. As long you don't _disappear_ from me again."

He smiled, "That was…a different circumstances. I promise I won't do this again. Oh goodness, I am not my cheerful Grendon self am I?" He used his head to nudge her and shouted out, "Vivi! Go out there and have fun with your new companions, and tell me of your adventures when you get back!"

She responded, "Okay okay! I guess we need to hire Lapras to send us to The Tree of Life then."

"Actually," said Eterna, "if you can visualise that area Vivi, I can open a portal to there."

Vivi beamed, "You can do that?"

"Yup." She turned to face Hydreigon and continued, "Spirt of Life, when will Dark Matter arrived on Earth?"

"Roughly a week if Dark Matter maintains Its speed to Its destination."

Maginvade cheered, "That is plenty of time! Why don't we explore the continents before heading there then?"

Shuy voiced her opinion, "Isn't it is better to wait at the base of The Tree of Life? We can't afford to let Dark Matter affecting the sacred tree."

"But we don't need to plan for days to defeat It isn't it?"

"I think," commented Vivi, "we should discuss what to do in that place first, then we can decide whether it is okay for us to go for a trip."

Eterna agreed, "I support her decision, and I have plans that we can go for a trip and protect the tree at the same time. Anyway, shall we warp to that place now?"

They nodded.

"Okay. I would like you to visualise the location, Vivi."

Vivi pictured the scene in her mind.

Eterna read Vivi's mental image and exclaimed a little, "Wow…that is very stunning and mysterious place! Good, I shall open a portal now."

She opened a portal. It floated vertically above the ground. Vivi was baffled to see the swirling blackness within the portal.

"This…looks like the power of Dark Matter! What exactly are you, Eterna?"

Eterna answered to her calmly, "Hmm…my power isn't exactly like that. I will explain to you later. Let's go."

Vivi was sceptical of Eterna, but decided to enter the portal since Shuy and Maginvade trusted her. She said her goodbyes to Grendon before joining the heroes into the portal. As they were warped away, Hydreigon spoke to him:

"Grendon, you should restore Vivi's memories once she returns. She has the right to know who she is."

He shook his head, "I know, but I would only do so if she wants to. Right now she is convinced that I had wiped her memories. And…"

"And?"

"She might prefer not to remember her human memories at all."


	2. Secrets Revealed and Planning Commences

**Chapter 2: Secrets Revealed and Planning Commences**

When the heroines arrived at their destination, they were amazed of the beauty of The Tree of Life. It had rainbow leaves, dangling golden vines, and twirling vines around its trunk. The ground was partially covered with rainbow leaves as well. There was a 'spirit' symbol at the mid-way of the tree. Vivi stated that the symbol was the power core of the tree, and should Dark Matter retrieved the core, the tree would die.

"And now," she continued, "I want you to explain to me of the power you wield, Eterna. You said your power didn't come from Dark Matter?"

Eterna acknowledged, "It seems I have no choice but to reveal my secret huh? It might sound unbelievable to you, but I am the only living being created by a being above the gods: Darkness. It is not the darkness that you know, instead it is nothingness with a will and It created Light. Light has a role to create life, while Darkness ends life. But one day, Darkness wanted to create a life out of darkness, and that was how I was born. As I was not created by Light, I could not die. And so, Light intervened to induce light in me so that I can die and reincarnate." She paused a while before continuing, "My Curse Power do not cause physical harm, unless I use Shadowable. It is supposed to cause mental discomfort in my foes, rendering them unable to attack. So my power is not like Dark Matter's power; I can't turn anyone into stone."

Vivi, Shuy, and even Maginvade who was an acquaintance of Eterna, were awestruck. They did not know that Eterna had an unbelievable background. After a moment of awkward silence, Shuy decided to go ahead with the conversation:

"It seems we heroines have some form of unique abilities. As I did stated before that I can see both past and future, I can only do so when I touch an object, and watch what my Dimensional Scream revealed to me. It is a useful ability to solve the crisis in my universe, as my partner Zack and I managed to defeat Darkrai from destroying the world by stopping its time."

"Oh? I met THAT Darkrai before." said Eterna.

"You did?" exclaimed Shuy.

"Yeah. That world was bleak though; even Arceus was defeated by him. I practically trashed him into submission in my Oppressive Obliteration Form, which I fully utilise my Curse Power. But since you are all right, maybe I was warped in a different timeline of your world."

"Eterna, do you mean Oppressive Obliteration Form is your true form?" enquired Maginvade.

"Yes, and no. I am true in both my current form and that. But I do not wish to use that form as…I might even put the lives in this world in jeopardy."

Vivi spoke, "Wow…I think that is what happen when you have too much power within you..."

Eterna admitted, "Yes. Well, that's all I have to say.

Vivi thanked Eterna for her revelation, and then turned to face Maginvade and said, "How about you, Maginvade? Do you have any special ability?"

"Nope!" answered Maginvade enthusiastically, "I am a normal human that defeated Bittercold myself. It is similar to Dark Matter as what Hydreigon had described to us just now."

"Wow. That is not an easy feat for you isn't it? How you managed to defeat It?"

"Just head-bashing and avoiding attacks that's all. I am a tough and agile lizard after all!"

"Ah. That was what Grendon did to destroy the core of Dark Matter…I merely just do a supportive role. He even accepted Dark Matter for It is an entity of all of our negativity; saying that all of us have negativity is important as without it, we won't be able to live life to our fullest."

Shuy spoke, "But your presence is important to Grendon isn't it? Without you being at his side during that battle, he might give it up."

Vivi sighed, "You are right. But oh well, I don't have special ability, and I didn't do much so I can't really consider myself as a saviour of this world."

Maginvade commented, "Don't think like that Vivi. You are the key to Grendon success, so you are a saviour of this world!"

Vivi was surprised that she did not think of it that way. She was grateful to have such caring companions by her side. After so many distrustful 'allies' she had encountered, she was wary of anyone wanted to be friends with her. She shook her head, and took a deep breath. Now it was the time to discuss their battle strategy.

"Thank you Maginvade… Okay, I think we should brainstorm on what to deal with Dark Matter. Is there any way we can prevent It from affecting The Tree of Life?"

"I might be able to warp Dark Matter to a place that is suitable for battle?" suggested Eterna.

Shuy agreed, "That is a good idea, but where else in this Pokémon World that is not inhabited?"

"I think," said Vivi, "Island of Isolation near Mist Continent, which is at the North-East from here, is a good place to go. I battled Mewtwo there, and now he is travelling around the world."

Shuy nodded, "Hmm…okay, that settles the safety of the Pokémons part. Now we need to know each other's move sets. I know Razor Leaf, Energy Ball, Giga Drain and Leech Seed. I am good at attacking from a distance, and punish the opponents in close range by using Leech Seed and Giga Drain."

"I know Psychic, Light Screen, Will-O-Wisp and Heat Wave. I can protect the team from Special Attacks, and I specialise in repelling opponents from me, or my teammates that are close to me. Although I do have Curse Power offensive and defensive moves, but that I will use them for emergency." mentioned Shuy.

"And I have Leaf Tornado, Coil, Energy Ball and Aqua Tail. I have to be tough to protect my partner Osha, so I learned Coil to boost my stats and attack my opponents aggressively." said Maginvade.

Vivi spoke, "I have Reflect, Razor Leaf, Ancient Power and Magical Leaf. Well…Ancient Power is a mystery to me; I don't see other Chikoritas have this move though. Anyway, I am good supporter, so if you girls are in trouble, I can use Reflect, and huge varieties of items to aid you all."

"That will be very much appreciated. Right, we need to strategise what kind of attacks we gonna use first. But first."

She walked to the tree and touched the trunk. The rest were looking bewildered; until they saw an excruciating look on her face.

"What's wrong?" asked Maginvade.

"I saw…the future. If we stick to attacking Its shell to reach its core, It will shatter Its shell intentionally to spread Its 'seeds' around the world. By affecting Pokémons, they can take the power core from The Tree of Life when we are still struggling to defeat It. I suggest we need to prevent It from doing so. I think Eterna is able to create a barrier to surround the island, but she will not be able to participate in the fight to maintain it."

"Not a problem. My Curse Power should able to do the job." assured Eterna, "So how are you guys gonna defeat it?"

Vivi said, "We need to talk to Dark Matter that is all a misunderstanding that It believes that It is a neglected part of our feelings."

"So…should we attack, or just talk to it instead?" questioned Maginvade.

"I think we should prepare ourselves to attack should the negotiation failed."

Shuy nodded, "Yes. We will need to use our strongest moves against It, or utilise items to slow Its movement down."

The group discussed till early afternoon. With their stomach growling, Vivi took out four Oran Berries and distributed them evenly among them. Vivi's companions thanked her, and ate the berries happily. When they finished eating, Maginvade commented:

"You know, we should stockpile our supplies; not to mention Revival Seeds. I reckon we should go to a Mystery Dungeon that have all our needs since we don't have any money to spend, and we can't just suck Vivi's savings dry."

"Mystery Jungle is a good place to go, but there are some nasty traps in there." suggested Vivi.

Eterna giggled, "That shouldn't be a problem if you all ride on my Shadowable."

Maginvade responded, "That's cheating! But oh well, we don't want to have our food items turned into Grimy Food."

Shuy laughed a little, "Well then, I guess we have to travel somewhere in the world while waiting for Dark Matter after all. But just to be safe, Eterna, can you detect It before It enters the stratosphere?"

She replied, "I can sense huge amount of negativity, but I have to be close to Its descends. I will make sure It enters my portal, named Abyss's Door, as planned."

A voice resounded, "If that is the case, I can help."

A ball of light appeared in front of them and transformed into a massive blue deer with rainbow jewels on its horns. Vivi was astounded:

"Xerneas!"

"Hello Vivi and heroes, or 'heroines', from other the universes. My name is Xerneas, and I am an incarnation of The Tree of Life. It seems that we have another trouble ahead isn't it? Leave the detection to me; I can sense Dark Matter within the orbit range of our moon, and I shall inform you all when It comes. In the meantime, the four of you should tour around the continents. It is good to relax your body and mind before the battle begins."

Maginvade agreed, "That is why I stated we should travel to other continents just now; to experience new sights and sounds."

Shuy shook her head, "I think you don't really have the sense of urgency Maginvade…but yes we shall take your offer Xerneas. We shall head out now."

Eterna created Abyss's Door that led to Mystery Jungle based on Vivi's imagery, and she sensed Xerneas was peering at her intently.

"If there anything wrong, Xerneas?" asked Eterna.

"No. It is nothing. Go on and enjoy your journey."

As they entered the portal and it closed behind them, Xerneas looked at the canopy of The Tree of Life and mumbled to herself, "To think that a human holds so much dark power within her that she has to create a seal on herself, yet I sensed she was a recipient of light power given by the other world Xerneas. To be able to use both powers effortlessly is not an easy feat, and I am worried that one day she might do something disastrous. I must monitor her."


	3. The Past Adventures That Shaped Them

**Chapter 3: The Past Adventures That Shaped Them**

In the lush dense tropical forest, the group arrived at the entrance of Mystery Jungle Mystery Dungeon. The bended trees seemingly formed a corridor to the swirling portal ahead. Vivi took the lead to enter the portal first since she was accustomed to this Mystery Dungeon's layout. As they were warped into the dungeon, Eterna conjured a Shadowable Floating Raft Form. They sat on it, and with Vivi direction, Eterna moved the black floating raft according to her will. The resident Pokémons saw them riding on it were envious of them, and decided to attack. Shuy and Maginvade combined their leaves attack to repel the foes, allowing time for Eterna to steer the floating raft away from them.

When the team spotted the items they were looking for, they picked them up and put them in their bag, until they stumbled upon a blue bracelet with a crystal embedded in the centre, the bracelet's edges made out of gold, and three 'slots' engraved beside the crystal.

"What is that?" questioned Maginvade.

"That's a Looplet." answered Vivi. "Depending on the number of slots, you can place Emeras in there. Emeras are gems with power imbued in them. They can help you conquer the dungeons with ease. However, the gems cannot be brought out of the dungeon. A general rule in this dungeon is each Pokémon is allowed to wear one Looplet."

"Oh! So it is similar to wearing scarfs; just that wearing a Looplet can provide multiple benefits at once!

"Yup. Though normal Looplet has only three slots. I shall give you all my spare special Looplets."

Vivi took out an Alliance Looplet, a Healing Looplet, and a Cover Looplet. She also took out a Detect Looplet for herself. These Looplets had more slots than a normal Looplet, and a symbol engraved on each of them to indicate their types. She explained, "Alliance Looplet has seven slots. It is good for a Pokémon to use the power of Alliance even though it is far away from the team, but during an Alliance, the wearer will be warped to the Pokémon that begins it. Healing Looplet is of course; able to heal your injuries as you walk by, but it only has five slots. Cover Looplet can cause the wearer to receive the attacks from the opponents directed to its nearby teammates, however it does not always work. It has six slots."

"I will take Healing Looplet!" said Maginvade. "I always go for the frontal assault haha."

Shuy spoke, "I shall take Cover Looplet. I have good natural defences to take the hits from you all."

"And that left me an Alliance Looplet. I am not so sure if it is necessary for me to have it though." commented Eterna.

They placed the bracelet on the strip of their sling bag since they would be activated as long they were close to the user. And, it was heavy and bulky to wear them.

Vivi reassured Eterna, "It is beneficial for you if you want to lure the foes to you to let us escape, and you will be warped to us when we use Alliance. You have a lot of power, and with this Looplet with seven slots for you to fill them with Emera, no foe will be able to hurt you!"

Eterna smirked, "Heh, using me as a bait? Oh well, I guess it is okay."

Vivi continued, "Now is the registration of our Alliance. We can only use one Pokémon move. The good thing about Alliance is we can attack a strong foe all together at once, with no regards to element's resistance. That means a move such as Mud Slap will hit a Flying Type."

Shuy gave it a little thought, then she made up her mind and replied, "I guess I can go for Leech Seed to bind the opponent."

Maginvade raised her hand excitedly, "Leaf Tornado! This move can lower the opponent's accuracy!"

Eterna responded with a dark humour, "I shall go for Psychic to make sure that the foe won't live for another day…I am just joking."

Vivi gave instructions, "Okay, I shall go for Reflect to protect us from opponent's physical attacks. Now, I want you all to visualise the move to use for Alliance. And later, tap on your Looplet."

They thought about their move, and tapped on their Looplet. The Looplets shone in white before it dissipated. Satisfied, the group continued their quest in finding items. When they reached eleventh basement floor, Vivi was looking a little nervous.

She spoke, "Umm…at the last floor, we will be in a clearing. And a legendary will greet us."

Maginvade was thrilled, "A LEGENDARY? Woot! Can we challenge it to a battle?"

"Please don't. Actually, I just want to meet him; that is why I suggested this place for our stockpiling."

Maginvade was a little disappointed, "Ah, okay. Let's visit him then!"

Eventually, they were in a clearing, and a pink cat Pokémon was in sight. He was ecstatic to see Vivi that he flew towards her and hugged her.

He spoke in joy, "Oooh! You visited me again Vivi! But you know I can fly by your side if you need me for rescuing mission."

Vivi was trying to break free and answered, "Mew, I…am here with my new companions; gathering items for our adventure."

"Oh? What adventure? Tell me, tell me!"

She replied to him flatly, "I can't tell you."

"Ooh! Must be a secret mission huh? It is alright, I won't pester what you are doing now. Anyway, I have a request to make. Can you and your friends pay Yveltal a visit? He seemed down for what he did to the Pokémons. Lighten him up and I am sure he will give you some advices for your quest."

Vivi was astonished, "Wait a minute…you already know about _it_?"

Mew was bewildered, "Oh? Why did you say that? You didn't tell me anything haha. Anyway, Vivi, please take out your map."

She handed her map to him. He unrolled it and placed his right paw on a spot on the map.

"There! Buried Ruins Mystery Dungeon in the South of Mist Continent, below Forest of Fairies. This area is within the mountains and it is a Mystery Dungeon with just cliffs and narrow pathway. There are twenty floors in total, and there is a particular annoying Pokémon that will force you to warp near it if you are within its sight so be careful!"

Maginvade peered over the map and commented, "This continent looks like the continent in my world, with some differences."

"It is my first time looking at this world map and I see a continent looks like the one where I live as well." continued Shuy.

Mew heard what they said and responded, "Oh? So the two of you arrived from another universe? Hmmmm! I guess this quest of yours is _critical_ Vivi. Then you all must make haste then! Now go! GO!"

Vivi was a little irritated when Mew suddenly relaxed his grip and shuffled her away. She said to him, "Okay, okay!" and she turned to face at Eterna and continue her conversation, "Eterna, I been to Forest of Fairies so we can warp to there first, and make our way south to Buried Ruins. He had been taken over by It before, so he knows what precaution to take when we battle It."

Shuy agreed, "We still have time before It arrives. Let's us depart then."

"But…what are we gonna do with our supplies? We have gathered lots of items and we might not be able to access Deposit Box all the time." mentioned Maginvade worriedly.

Eterna said, "Leave it to me."

She 'clicked' using her left fingers. Vivi, Shuy, Maginvade and Mew were astounded to see a black box about two metres in three dimensional measurement appeared with black mist pouring out of it. There were no intriguing patterns engraved on the box.

She continued, "This is Eterna's Vault. Currently, there is nothing inside. It can store about one hundred volume of space. The items will be floating in my dimensional space; and if they are perishable goods, they will not rot. If you want your item back, just say the name of the item and a lid will open at around your height, and the item will pop out."

"This is like a portable Deposit Box! With less space available though." commented Maginvade.

"Well…I could expand it, but I hardly use the vault."

Shuy said, "There is no need to increase the space; unless the capacity level is maximised. Let's put some of our items in the vault now."

The group deposited the items they did not currently need in the openings of the vault. Once they were done using it, the vault's lids closed and disappeared.

"And now we shall depart!" cheered Maginvade. "Thank you for everything, Mew!"

Mew was blushing and replied, "Haha, I didn't do much to help you all. I wish you all the best for your quest! And Vivi, try not to keep everything to yourself okay?"

"What do you mean?" asked Vivi.

Mew winked at her, "I think you will understand it later."

Eventually, the group waved goodbye to Mew and left the dungeon. And once they were outside the entrance under the afternoon sun, they entered Eterna's Abyss's Door to the Forest of Fairies. Still riding on Shadowable Floating Raft Form, Eterna directed it while Vivi led the way using the map and the compass. Shuy and Maginvade took a snooze as they were exhausted.

Sunset, and the floating raft was still flying over the forest. But luckily, the mountains were in sight. Shuy decided they should rest for the night, and headed out in daybreak. The rest agreed, and Eterna lowered the floating raft onto the ground so that they could alight off, and she ceased her Shadowable. They were surrounded with thick pine trees known as Squirrel's Tail due to their long drooping branches with soft thin rod-like leaves. Their seeds in the pine cones were delicious; a little hint of minty, spicy, and nutty taste. Eterna lit the end of her wand on fire and shoved it into the ground, while the others picked the pine cones on the ground for dinner. After the group had their fill of the seeds, Vivi requested her companions to tell her about their adventures. Shuy started her first; emphasising on saving her world from being frozen in time, and two different timeline existed after that point of time. Next were Maginvade and Eterna. Maginvade explained her adventures, and later, stated how she met Eterna. She was apologetic to her for the villagers bombarding her with questions as Eterna was a new visitor to them. Lastly, Eterna spoke of her adventure, and she was responsible of letting Unbound Hoopa went rampant and sunk the continent. She then pledged herself to save as many Pokémons as she could using her own strength than depending on the prophecy in Skyward Blocks.

After listening to their stories, Vivi talked to them about her adventure: the journey of meetings, betrayals, partings, and amendments. She also mentioned that, together with Ancient Mew, had sacrificed their memories just to make sure that they would not do the same mistakes on defeating Dark Matter in the future.

"…and I have some questions I want to know." she continued. "Why did Ancient Mew had been reincarnated into Grendon? And…I don't know why I did not mind Ancient Mew to erase my memories when I arrived to this world the second time, and had his memories taken by Xerneas."

Shuy answered, "I think, it is a way to prevent your foes from gaining more intel out of you."

"Yeah. You were in a situation that everyone could betray you, so losing your memories is one way to save yourself from the enemies." said Maginvade.

However, Eterna criticised Vivi's motives, "To me, having your memories intact is better as you will not take any more chances to succeed the plan. And you will have the knowledge to avoid detection from your foes. The same thing applies for Ancient Mew. And as for his reincarnation, I feel that that was absurd of him of willing to give up his life to reincarnate into another Pokémon, asked you to join him in The Pokémon Expedition Society, and eventually, to save the world."

"Eterna! That is very harsh of you to say that what they had sacrificed is redundant!" commented Maginvade.

Eterna argued, "I am not wrong in this. The method they did is a big mistake."

"I..." Vivi began to cry.

"And now you made her cry." Shuy pointed out.

Eterna scratched her head using her right arm and apologised, "Vivi, I am sorry. It is just that it saddens me that you and Ancient Mew had made these choices just to defeat Dark Matter the second time. If you truly want to know whether you had done the right thing, ask Grendon whether he has your memories. Your memories might have something that spurred you to make this sacrifice. Also, I have a hunch that he did not erase them; but to hold them till you want them back."

Vivi wiped her tears, "No…I don't blame you. You are right to judge my motives…with honesty. Thank you for telling me these Eterna. I think, I shall head to bed. Goodnight to you all."

She lie down and trying to hold up her tears.

Maginvade whispered to Eterna, "Geez! You should know that she had been through a lot, so don't lecture her okay?"

She was still scratching her head and replied with remorse, "Yeah, I will remember that. You two should go to bed as well; I need to prepare for something."

After Eterna waited for them to snooze away, she conjured Shadowable Dome Form to protect them from intruders prying on them. She also took out her diary to record her adventure. She started doing that ever since she had returned to her world after she had done her role. Even her friends: Chestnut, Ice Kacang the Abomasnow and Loggerhead the Gurdurr had written their part too. There was one phase Chestnut had written in symbols that only she was able to translate it:

 _Please remember that you are not at fault for the disaster; it was necessary to keep the world in balance. The fault lies with Xerneas, and together with Yveltal and Zygarde, they had forsaken their abilities so that Mother Nature can do what is right._

"Balance huh? So why was Dark Matter being created by The Universe as what Vivi had depicted? Is it because of necessary equilibrium of good and evil emotions? And…" she closed her diary and lie down; continued to mutter to herself, "I will not accept that the blame isn't on me. Sorry Chestnut, I will have to do something to ease off my guilt."

Little did Eterna know; Vivi was actually awake, and she heard what she had said. Now she knew why Eterna had lectured her; it was to remind her not to make a choice that requires sacrifices, or else she would regret. And now, more than ever before, she wanted to regain her memories back to find out why she had made the decision to have her memories erased.

* * *

Author's comment: Here is another art related to this chapter.

art/For-crying-out-loud-584979634


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Words from the Dark Y and the Challenges Ahead**

Once the sun had risen over the horizon, the team continued their journey towards Buried Ruins. The wind was getting stronger and the trees were swaying; indicating that a storm was brewing. Eterna explained to her teammates that she would modify her Shadowable into Jet Plane Form so that she could manoeuver out of the strong headwind easily. They nodded, and on her queue, her Shadowable transformed into a black jet plane. As soon as she felt that the headwind was hitting it, she moved it up. Eventually, it was high above the mountains and fortunately, the headwind was slightly weaker.

Within their sight, they noticed an unusual grey plateau above the clouds. Vivi told Eterna to land on the plateau as there could be Buried Ruin Mystery Dungeon's entrance somewhere on it. Eterna gradually slowed the speed of the jet plane, and once it reached the plateau, she circled her Shadowable around to look for the portal. The group eventually spotted it: a red outer ring and black swirl at its middle at the centre of the plateau. Eterna lowered her Shadowable and they alighted off; staring at the portal in front of them.

Eterna questioned Vivi, "Is this really the entrance to Buried Ruins?"

"It should be. There are no other Mystery Dungeons within the mountain range." she answered.

Maginvade commented, "Goodness, this portal gives me the creeps. So how are we gonna travel in this dungeon? Walking? I don't think we need to _cheat_ anymore since we stored the important stuffs in Eterna's Vault."

"I think this will be a great experience to walk on the cliffs as I have not seen that kind of dungeon layout in my world." said Shuy.

"Okay. Can I be the leader this time? I explored this kind of dungeon before."

"Sure. You can detect hidden traps right?"

Maginvade giggled, "Nope, but I can destroy them!"

"Won't it better if I take the lead instead? It is better to avoid the traps than activate them intentionally." suggested Shuy.

"That is boring! Besides, there are situations we can't avoid them anyway."

Shuy decided not to argue at Maginvade and placed her trust in her, "Hmm. I guess I could see how well you could lead us to safety then."

Maginvade laughed, "Haha! You will be surprise how I conquer a dungeon! Alright girls, let's go!"

They entered the portal. To their surprise, they could see the entire layout of the dungeon, and the resident Pokémons roaming on the cliffs and narrow pathways. As the residents could see them as well, they made their way towards them. Vivi noticed a Clefairy among them, and she knew that it was the one that Mew had warned them about it. She took out a Surround Wand in anticipation of its move.

The team managed to walk to an adjacent cliff, but the two routes were blocked by Clefairy, Purrloin, Pidgey and Pichu, which Clefairy and Purrloin were blocking the route that led to the cliff with the stairs. The Fairy Pokémon acted first. It used Follow Me, warping Maginvade towards it. Maginvade was surprised of the move, but wasted no time using Leaf Tornado at it. Vivi on the other hand waved Surround Wand at Maginvade; warping Shuy and Eterna by her side to assist her in battle. Then, she took out Petrify Wand to stun Pidgey from making a move, and she attacked Pichu with Razor Leaf.

As for Maginvade's side, she was amazed that Clefairy could endure three attacks from her and her companions, and Purrloin used two moves for an attack due to Unburden ability. After Clefairy was defeated, Purrloin used double Fake Outs on Shuy. Shuy flinched from the attack, so Maginvade backed her up using Aqua Tail. It survived the attack, and kicked double Sand Attacks at her. As the sand splatted into her eyes, she was momentarily blinded and she fumbled onto the ground. Eterna was not pleased that a mere cat could render two of her teammates defenceless. She casted Heat Wave and toasted all her opponents till they fainted and warped out of the dungeon.

After Shuy and Maginvade managed to recover, they discussed with Vivi and Eterna about the battle they faced.

"It seems we had underestimated those cute Pokemons. They had strong natural defences and irritating status infliction moves." said Shuy.

"Isn't it is unnatural of them to be so powerful?" commented Eterna.

"It is the effect of the Mystery Dungeon. All resident Pokémons had their stats maxed out. That is why I had to depend on items to help you all." replied Vivi.

Maginvade spoke, "Now this is troubling. We might expand too much of our energy before we can even reach the eighth floor. I am thinking we should split up so that the enemies will divide their forces. Besides, if one of us reached the stairs, we will be instantly warped to the next floor as well."

Shuy realised her strategy, "I see. So this is how you conquer a dungeon."

"Yup! It is an effective strategy in a visible floor dungeon. So what do you say girls?"

Eterna agreed, "Fine with me. I can handle them easily without using my Curse Power anyway."

"But is this a good idea? Isn't that means that will have a higher chance of one of us fainted in the dungeon?" concerned Vivi.

Maginvade grinned, "Haha. We aren't that weak, Vivi! Each of us had saved the world isn't it? So there is no need to worry; we will make it to the end of this dungeon!"

"If you say so…"

The team went to their separate ways. They stuck to this strategy till the nineteen floor. Astoundingly, Maginvade's strategy worked smoothly without any one of them fainted. In this floor, they encountered a huge issue ahead of them: a huge cliff with the stairs which was just across of them was surrounded with delightful items such as rare Emeras, wands, stat boost drinks, and sparkling floor that could be gold hidden in there. However:

"This is definitely a Monster House." cautioned Shuy.

Maginvade understood the situation, "I know! But we have to go through this! Eterna, can you be _The Sweeper_?"

The vixen smiled, "What an enticing offer. Sure, why not?"

"So what are you going to do, Eterna?" questioned Vivi.

"Just watch. It can be hilarious though."

Eterna took out her wand and strode her way to the next cliff, and as she expected, numerous Pokémons were warped in front of her. Before they could use their moves, Eterna told them:

"Oh what a crowd. That makes you all easy targets…to bump on each other."

She waved her wand to direct her Psychic at her foes. The opponents closest to her were knocked back and hit their allies behind them, and the 'dominos effect' continued till all of them collapsed on the ground, moaning in pain.

Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade giggled at the scene; that was certainly 'spectacular'.

Eterna shoved the wand into her tail, and hollered at her teammates, "Okay! We should move on now!"

They made haste to the stairs, while avoiding traps based on Shuy's cue. They drank a bottle of Max Elixir and ate Oran Berries before climbing the stairs to replenish their energy and quenched their hunger since they had not eaten their breakfast yet. Once they reached the final floor, the floor layout changed drastically. The dark black room was slightly illuminated by the glowing blue crystals and luminous green mosses. As they walked to the other room, they saw a huge black tri claw-winged Pokémon, and its frontal body illuminating a red glow. Hovering in the air, he peered down at Vivi and her companions. He spoke:

"Vivi, I must apologise for what I did to you and your friends. Even though I am known to take lives, I only do what a reaper is supposed to do: take Pokémon lives if they are old, sick, or badly injured. For me, a dark one succumbed to a greater darkness, I felt ashamed. To repay for I had done, I shall join you in your rescuing mission to save lives; if they are well enough to live of course."

Vivi replied, "Sure, welcome to Team Interstellar! And _Yveltal_ , I don't resent you for turning the Pokémon into stone. You were controlled by Dark Matter after all."

"I…you have my gratitude Vivi, though I have a question to ask of you; your companions are not part of your rescue team isn't it? I never seen their faces before, and I sensed strong spiritual energy in them…they are humans am I right?"

"Yes. They are here with me on a mission to defeat Dark Matter from space."

Yveltal was astonished, "What!? This is preposterous; there are more than one in The Universe? This is puzzling why It was created. There are not many planets that can host life so what is reason for their existence in the first place?"

Vivi tilted her head, "I wonder about that as well."

"Maybe the answer will reveal to us one day. Anyway, what makes the four of you visit me in this remote place?"

"I would want to ask you how we can defend ourselves from being possessed by Dark Matter."

"Ah, it is not easy. Everyone has darkness in their hearts so Dark Matter can easily slip into the gaps of the heart. But there is a way to prevent this; get the Wind Looplet from Rayquaza in Dragon Gate, situated at the southern point of Grass Continent and North-East of Sky Ruins. It can shield you from status inflictions and self-status decrease due to moves. If possible, request him to give you three Wind Looplets. But be warned, you might have to battle him and the two other legendary dragons that one controls time and the other distorts space. They are not to be taken lightly."

She acknowledged, "Alright, we will try to convince him to give the Wind Looplets to us. But why do we need three? Isn't it should be four of them?"

"As a being of 'true' darkness, I am immune to any dark powers." revealed Eterna.

"She is right. I cannot comprehend how she holds so much dark power and not resorting to violence." admitted Yveltal.

Maginvade nodded, "Yeah, she been through a lot to keep it under control too. By the way, isn't it is safer for you to wear a Wind Looplet as well?"

"I have fortified this Mystery Dungeon to repel any Dark Matter's power from entering the portal. I will be safe as long I don't leave this dungeon."

"That's good. Oh well, we have another important place to go then." She turned to face at Vivi, "Have you been to Sky Ruins before, Vivi?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't have any rescue missions at the south of Grass Continent though, but I been to Little Canyon before. Allow me to take out my map."

She took up the map and judge the distance from Little Canyon to Dragon Gate. She continued, "It seems that we will be mostly flying above the mountains and hills. At least, there is a grass plain in between our flight. We might take two days to reach there by cruising speed."

"Oh no. Another long flight? If that is the case, we can ride in my Shadowable Jet Plane Form and fly there as speedy as possible." recommended Eterna.

"Maybe not that fast; we might puke." pled Shuy.

"Okay…maybe I can just increase till four hundred kilometres per hour, then we might reach there in just one day."

Yveltal looked at her, "That is a problem with long distance travel isn't it? By the way, is your name, human?"

Eterna smacked her forehead, "Oh yes, we haven't introduce ourselves! My name is Eterna, and Shuy is Turtwig and Maginvade is Snivy. Is there anything you want to discuss with me?"

"Yes Eterna. Please don't use your dark power in front of the legendary dragons; they utterly resent it. If you use it, Rayquaza will not hand out the Wind Looplets to your companions."

"But that means they have a lot of advantages against us!"

Shuy assured her, "Not to worry, I can turn the tide to our favour. Anyway, we shall discuss our strategy while we are on our way there."

Vivi agreed, "Yeah. We shall depart now Yveltal. Thank you for your time in helping us to defeat Dark Matter."

Yveltal replied, "Not a problem, Vivi. I apologise that you have to save us once more. And due to my circumstances, I can't accompany you all in your quest."

She responded, "It's okay, it is best to be safe from It. I shall see you then!"

The team left the dungeon, and warped to Little Canyon via Abyss's Door. The orange-coloured canyons were not shallow; they were quite deep, and some of the tall protruding pointy rocks were covered in snow. It was late afternoon; so they decided to travel via Shadowable Jet Plane Form till the sunset. As usual, Vivi instructed Eterna where to fly across, and fortunately by sunset, they had reached the green landscape. They set up a camp on the grass patch with numerous bushes, and plucked some berries around their vicinity. The berries they harvested were called Ganlon Berries. Their fresh were dry and had strong bitter taste, and they grew well in areas that had little rain. Eterna distasted bitter fruits, but she knew that eating sweet fruits all the time would make her belly bigger. When she had a little bite out of the berry, Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade laughed when they see her face twitched from eating it.

After their meal, Vivi told them that Dragon Type Pokémons were tough to defeat as they tended to keep using long and wide range attacks. She was not sure how they were able to bring three uber legendaries down.

Shuy spoke, "I can use Dimensional Scream and foresee what attacks they will use in a near future. However, that would mean that I can't engage them in battle."

Maginvade responded, "Eterna and I can help in offense, Shuy! We been travelling together for missions for a long time so we are perfectly synchronise in our attacks! By the way, we can also use stat infliction items to impede them. But based on my experience, it seems that their effects lasted shorter than usual due to the effects of the Mystery Dungeon."

"That's sucks that I have to resist using my Curse Power against them," groaned Eterna, "but combining my Pokémon's moves with Maginvade, we make a good team. Leave the distraction to us Shuy!"

Vivi commented, "But, if the legendaries read our strategy, Shuy will faint even though the two of you have tried your best to distract it. I think it is better for Eterna to protect Shuy instead since she can conjure Light Screen and attack from afar. I shall head close to the legendaries and use the items so that they will be focus on me instead, and Maginvade will have an easier time attacking them."

Maginvade was astounded of Vivi's "Woah, you really think this through Vivi. What do you think girls? Should we follow Vivi's strategy instead?"

Shuy nodded, "I think it is a good plan. It is reassuring to have a strong shield user by my side."

Eterna opposed, but she knew it was crucial to protect Shuy as she was a key player to help them succeed. She replied, "Well…I prefer to attack the legendaries head on, but my Light Screen is pretty sturdy as well. Alright, I will defend Shuy and assist in wide range attacks."

Maginvade grinned, "Okay. We shall stick to her plan then! By the way, how many Revival Seeds do we have in Eterna's Vault?"

Eterna summoned her vault and browsed for them inside. She told her, "Eleven of them."

"Great! Give me four of them so that I can revive Vivi, and you carry four as well should Vivi and I fainted in battle."

Eterna passed to her as requested, and also two Max Elixirs just in case she tired off. Eterna also placed four Revival Seeds in her bag, and retrieved eight Slow Wands and four Surround Wands for emergency use.

Maginvade spoke, "I think we had a good discussion tonight. Is there anything you want to add?"

Shuy yawned, "Sleep please. I need about nine hours of sleep to be my optimum level to use my ability many times."

"Alright, goodnight and see you all in the morning!"

Shuy and Maginvade fell asleep on the grass. Eterna on the other hand was jotting her adventures in her diary. Vivi peered at the words she wrote, and Eterna did not mind it.

The fire vixen questioned her after she was done writing, "Is there anything you want to ask of me?"

Vivi replied, "Well…I wonder why you always write stuffs in your diary, and when did you started it?"

"I guess…I should allow you to read the first page of my diary."

She flipped the pages till the first page and passed it to Vivi. She read:

 _Never forget the journey that you had been through_

 _so that one day you can repay the ones that aided you,_

 _and things that you should avoid doing from now on._

 _However should you decided to go astray,_

 _pass this diary to someone you trust_

 _that contains your memories_

 _to defeat you._

Vivi understood that the memories to Eterna was important, that was why she told her that it was unnecessary to have her memories erased. She returned the diary to Eterna and was puzzled of the fourth line of the poem. She asked:

"Why would you go astray? Is it because of your power?"

Eterna answered, "When the situation comes, I might have to tap into my entire reservoir of Curse Power, which may cause me to become someone that you hate. And that is the point of time if that someone has my diary, he or she will know how to stop me. Ah yes…I didn't explain about Darkness and Light entirely to you all. Will you keep it a secret?"

"I will."

"From what I interpreted from the poem in Skyward Block, Light had died because Darkness's power eventually swallow It whole. Darkness then created New Light and gave it a gift of emptiness, which New Light understood Darkness wanted something around them. That was how Life was created, or it can be referred to the universe. But the part that Darkness had trouble containing its power might apply to me as well. My power might 'overflow' and causes chaos to anyone. I hope this will not happen though…"

Vivi stuttered in astonishment, "That…that…is too mind-blown for me to understand! Uh hmm…so far, you managed to keep your power in check right? I don't think your power will overflow; or else why do they let you reincarnated?"

Eterna smiled at her, "I am glad that I talk to you; you know how to state the obvious answer. I guess I am pondering over things too much since I hold a lot of power, and growing in strength from time to time. Alright Vivi, let's go to bed shall we? We have a big day ahead of us."

She placed the diary into her sling bag, and created Shadowable Dome Form to protect her teammates.

They flattened a grass area to rest onto it, and they fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Vivi dreamed that Eterna just wanted to have friends that she could rely on. So she spoke to her in her dream:

"We are already your friends so don't shoulder all the burden on yourself. Should that time comes, I will do anything to…"

Her dream had suddenly changed into watching Shuy won the Berry Eating Contest. Vivi shrugged and snickered at the act; allowing the dreams guided her till daybreak.

* * *

Here is another art that resembles a scene from this chapter!

art/Meeting-Yveltal-588057240


	5. The Descent of the Dragons

**Chapter 5: The Descent of the Dragons**

Once they had their breakfast, they continued their journey south to Dragon Gate. It took about two hours to reach the mountain peaks. As usual, the Jet Plane Form Shadowable was going against the headwind, so Eterna had to raise the plane high up above the clouds. There was no storm in sight, so the team could view the spectacular snow-tip mountains as they flew pass. Before the sun reached the zenith point, the group noticed golden gate floating above the clouds. The gate was not circular; instead it was rectangular gate that could swing inward, and there were serpent-like dragon designs on all sides of it. The gate opened upon their arrival to reveal the golden swirling portal. They entered without hesitation; and the portal warped them to a dungeon with ruins-like structures with moss partially covering them, canals, and hard reddish ground. Shuy spoke:

"Alright. This time, we should stick together as we brought supplies to use for battling legendaries. And, I would want to be the leader this time. Any objections?"

Maginvade was fine with it, "Okay. You know this dungeon layout, Shuy?"

"Yes. These canals can be used as short cuts towards the stairs. I can walk on water and lava without getting wet or scorched."

Vivi was amazed, "Wow! But how do you managed to do this?"

"I have All-Terrain Hiker IQ Skill gained from eating Gummies; which these delectable aren't available in this world, I guess. Supposedly, Pokémons are classified into groups, so they learn IQ Skills differently. However, I could utilise all IQ Skills; that's why I could conquer Lv99 dungeons a little easier."

"Ah. But that means you are the only one able to use the shortcuts isn't it?"

"That is not the case. Watch."

Shuy rammed onto a wall. It collapsed, and revealed another room in front of them.

Maginvade was excited, "Sweet! We might progress in the dungeon faster than usual with the skills of her's!"

Shuy nodded, "Yes. Well then, let's go shall we?"

Eterna lowered her Shadowable for them to alight off, and disengaged it. With Shuy as a leader, they advanced through the dungeon quickly; without battling the resident Pokémons all the time. Soon they arrived at the stairs in the twentieth floor; and Shuy halted her teammates from climbing it.

She said, "The next floor onwards will be boss battle. Are we ready?"

Maginvade replied, "Yup! Let's go according to plan! I will do my best to distract them from aiming at you."

"I might probably spam the wands like crazy to give us more opportunities to attack." responded Vivi.

"And my job is to protect Shuy; though I can protect you all too depending on the situation." mentioned Eterna.

Shuy nodded, "Right. Let's give it our all!"

They climbed up the stairs and arrived in a different environment. The flooring was made out of brown graphite, and it was partially covered in grass. There were broken Greek-like pillars as well in the background; blending within the shrubs. At the centre of the room lies a huge four-legged dark blue dragon with a silvery dial-shaped on its lower back. He was staring at Vivi for a while, and said:

"You…looked familiar. If you are the one that I thought you are, battle me! You and your friends are welcome to join in."

Vivi answered, "Sure. My teammates and I are willing to take you on!"

Shuy peered at the dragon and spoke, "So…the first boss is Dialga, the protector of time. This is going to be a tough battle."

Maginvade giggled, "Well, who says the battle will be easy? Shall we make the first move?"

Dialga bellowed, "Go ahead! I shall show you that time waits for no one!"

Vivi used Slow Wand on Dialga. His sluggish movement allowed Shuy and Eterna to move to the end of the room, and the vixen to conjured Light Screen on themselves. Shuy then activate her Dimensional Scream and saw a scenario briefly that Dialga was charging up for Roar of Time.

She shouted, "He is going to use Roar of Time soon! Weaken him while he charges up!"

"No problem for me!" replied Maginvade as she kept on throwing Leaf Tornadoes on him to try to lower his accuracy of moves. Vivi on the other hand pulled out a Sleep Wand in preparation of his attack.

Even though the blue dragon was slowed, he grasped the situation that Shuy could anticipate his move. However he would not change his tactic and went ahead to charge up his signature move. Within seconds, he managed to cure his status ailments, and now he was charging up quicker. Vivi then waved a Sleep Wand at him, and he fell asleep. But strangely, he disappeared, and Vivi and Maginvade were knocked back by something hard and onto Eterna's Light Screen. Shuy warned them:

"He could, of course, manipulate time. Our perception of time will not work against him."

"So how are we gonna weaken him then?" asked Maginvade.

Vivi spoke, "I have an idea."

She took out a Quick Orb and used it. Now the team had their speed doubled, and able to see Dialga was moving slowly towards them.

Shuy used her ability once more and cautioned them, "He is going to use Dragon's Tail, followed with Roar of Time. We need to push him back now!"

Eterna acknowledged, "That will be my job."

She used Psychic on Dialga. Without using her wand, she would not be able to direct her Psychic; but now she just need to repel him. With her intense psionic power, Dialga flew to the other end of the room and fell into the shrubs. Eterna then ceased her attack and immediately drank a bottle of Elixir.

She panted, "Whew. This attack drains me, and now I have to focus on my screens. Now it is up to you two, Vivi and Maginvade!"

Vivi and Maginvade ran towards Dialga, and attacked his sides with Razor Leaf and Energy Ball respectfully. As the Quick Orb's effect wore off, Dialga got back on his legs at a normal speed and told them:

"You do know that your attacks did nothing much to me, right?"

"You shouldn't underestimated us, Dialga!" said Vivi.

"Oh?"

Vivi chewed a Violent Seed; her Attack and Special Attack were boosted till the maximum for a short time. She used Giga Drain this time and managed to hurt Dialga substantially. He roared in pain and retaliated with Dragon's Tail. Once more, Vivi and Maginvade were swept back onto Eterna's screen.

"Geez, how many times he gonna knock you girls away?" complained Eterna.

Maginvade countered back, "It isn't our fault! Besides, I am about to munch on an Encourage Seed once I seen Vivi eaten a Violent Seed."

Shuy said, "It is too early to chat, team! He is about to use Roar of Time!"

Dialga used Roar of Time. All the Light Screens wobbled as the attack rammed onto them like waves. Eventually, they shattered, and the girls were gravely injured. They hastily took up Oran Berries and ate them.

Vivi was worried, "This is not good. His signature move could wipe us easily. Good thing we survived due to Toughness Emera."

"Using items only delay his movement for a while, but they don't really guarantee our safety huh?" mentioned Maginvade.

Shuy consoled them a little, "Well, at least we haven't faint yet thanks to my ability. He is going to use it again since it is the most powerful move he knows."

"Vivi, is there any other tactics you can use against him?" enquired Eterna.

"Hmm…It would be good if we have a Ghost Type that uses Curse. It will bring him down in no time."

"Well, isn't _I_ can use that?"

"No Eterna! You shouldn't use it at him!"

"Don't worry, I will use it _discreetly_."

Eterna used Psychic to propel herself onto Dialga. He looked at her while still charging up his move, and was astonished to see himself suddenly covered in her Heat Wave. He felt the burn as his armour was heating up, and for some reason, he felt afraid. He stopped charging up his move, and kneeled onto the ground breathing heavily. Eterna ceased her attack, and her teammates were awestruck.

"I…think I saw something eerie." said Vivi.

"Something…that even I don't wish to be engulfed in it." continued Shuy.

Maginvade whispered to them, "It is Inundation Flames. The black fire with white tip can cause the opponent to feel unwell, but it doesn't do any physical damage. Eterna really hid her second attack very well. I hope Dialga didn't sense it."

The blue dragon took a deep breath and said, "I am defeated. I must say, this fox here has some powerful attack. She really knows how to use _my weakness_ against me."

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Vivi.

"Hahaha, I don't wish to talk about it. By the way, your name is Vivi isn't it? I remember it vividly when I was in peril and you saved me."

"I did?"

Dialga understood that Vivi did not understand what he had told her because of the past incident, "Ah yes, you had lost your memories isn't it? Allow me to explain: your partner had used a move to bring me down easily, and you used an item to snap me out of my insanity. I am thankful that you two had gone through great lengths to save me. I am forever in your debt."

"Wow…I really did it?"

"Yes. And I am able to confirm that it is you when you keep using the items to hinder me down in battle. Anyway, it is nice to meet you once again Vivi. But for you to be here…you wish to get a Wind Looplet from Rayquaza, am I right?"

"Yes."

"Please wait a moment, I shall talk to him and my brother about this."

He warped out of the room. Vivi and her companions could finally take a breather. They sat down and chatted, and thanked Eterna of her unique attack.

"You know, "said Eterna, "if I just battle the legendaries myself, where is the team cooperation? It would be better not to depend on me all the time."

"But you are really strong. I don't think any legendaries can even rival your strength." commented Vivi.

"Haha. But you girls can defeat them without me as well. I have the strength, but I am not that good in strategy. I might even make careless mistakes that the opponents can use these opportunities to attack me."

Shuy responded, "Well…it seems we are quite short in time. It would be better if we don't spend too much time battling and keep having ourselves injured. We might never know when Dark Matter is going to arrive. So in the meantime, we might have to depend on you, Eterna, to defeat our opponents when we are cornered."

"Oh man, I felt bad taking your glory moments…"

"Boohoo. I should be praised since I never fled from a battle." pouted Maginvade. "Anyway, I hope we do not need to battle two more legendary dragons; they should understand our situation!"

After a few minutes, Dialga warped back into the room. He spoke seriously:

"Please progress to the twenty-third floor; Rayquaza will be waiting. In the meantime, my brother and I shall head back to our homes. I hope the four of you will succeed. Farewell, and I hope we can meet again one day, Vivi."

He exited the dungeon. The team was baffled of his statement.

"Does that mean he knows our quest?" asked Eterna.

Vivi was not sure and replied, "I guess we need to ask Rayquaza then."

They made their way to the end of the dungeon. Here, it was already sunset, and they were on top of a light brown platform which was elevated above the clouds. A green serpent-like dragon awaited for their arrival; and bowed to them. He said:

"Greetings…my name is Rayquaza. I know what you all came for: a Wind Looplet. I shall hand it over to you."

Vivi interrupted him, "Actually, we need three of them to give us an advantage against Dark Matter."

"I know, but I can't just give a few to you. They are powerful Legendary Looplets. Should you all fallen, they can go to wrong hands and cause havoc to the world. Though I can make this an exception. How about this? Win me in battle and I shall give three Wind Looplets as you requested. I have to judge whether the three of you are fit to wear them, and I would like Eterna not to participate in the battle since she is already powerful enough."

Vivi was dismayed that they had to battle for their worth, "Alright. Would you allow some time for us to plan for this battle?"

"I approved."

The team walked away from Rayquaza and discussed among themselves.

"Okay, It is gonna be hard to win him since we all weak to Flying Type…and not to mention our powerhouse is banned from this battle." frowned Maginvade.

"Oh well, I didn't _foresee_ this coming." answered Shuy. "Anyway, we might have to use Alliance as often as possible since there is no time for me to use Dimensional Scream."

"I just hope we have enough wands to use against him, and Revival Seeds." concerned Vivi.

"If that is case, would you want me to summon my vault?" suggested Eterna.

"Hmm…I think it is best not to exhaust our supplies soon. I guess, it is everything goes for now. Eterna, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Should we all fainted in battle, please convince him to give you the Wind Looplets. We really need these to help us win the fight against Dark Matter."

She acknowledged, "Alright. I wish you all the best, Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade!"

Vivi smiled at Eterna, then she led Shuy and Maginvade towards Rayquaza. Eterna on the other hand sat on her Shadowable Raft Form, and moved it out of the platform; monitoring her companions. She deposited Alliance Looplet in her vault so that she would not be summoned for an Alliance. She was intrigued of how they were going to defeat an uber dragon.

Rayquaza noticed the trio were done and assumed they were ready. He let out a mighty roar, and bright white light encompassed him. Once the light faded, he was in a different form, and gust swept through the area. Now the trio were stunned; they did not expect he would Mega Evolved. However they could not back down right now; Vivi wasted no time to use Slow Wand at Rayquaza to give Shuy and Maginvade some time to prepare. Shuy used a Link Box to combine all her moves into one attack, and Maginvade used Coil to buff herself up. Vivi also used Reflect to give some protection from the dragon's physical attacks. She ate another Violent Seed, and once the dragon managed to recover back to his normal speed, she used Ancient Power on him. It was super effective; but due to his ability, the effectiveness was reduced. Maginvade followed up her attack with Aqua Tail, which she leapt and hit on his tail; giving him a little ache. Lastly Shuy used her linked moves, and bombarded the dragon with all she got. It was clear that he was hurt, but the injuries did not hinder his movement. He spoke:

"Hmm, Not bad! Now it is my turn."

He performed a Dragon Ascent. He flew up high, and skydive towards the ground with his piercing wind. Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade were knocked back; their walls shattered immediately; and Vivi and Shuy fainted from the attack. Maginvade used Sleep Wand at Rayquaza to put him in a temporary sleep, ate an Oran Berry, and hastily revived her teammates with the Revival Seeds by placing them on their head. They got up, and together with her, they used Alliance three times at Rayquaza; hoping to at least weaken him significantly. The dragon woke up. He was surprised he was bound so tightly that he could barely move, and his energy was sapped in a great amount. He used Dragon Pulse this time, which managed to knock back the trio. In retaliation, Shuy unlinked her moves, and paired up with Maginvade in aiming their leaf attacks on his head despite the gust kept on sweeping the leaves away. As the dragon could not see what was ahead, Vivi then used Ancient Power at him in succession. Once her stats had increased, she went close to the dragon and used Razor Leaves. The leaves struck the dragon's abdominals. He screeched in pain, and eventually fainted; his form was back to normal as well. Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade cheered that they had won the battle. Eterna was amazed, and swoop towards them and congratulated them:

"You girls really pull it off! I was impressed!"

Maginvade replied, "Thanks Eterna! You know, I thought we might lose the battle, but we cooperated pretty well for this."

Shuy agreed, "Yes. It is fortunate that we aren't down to zero Revival Seeds."

Vivi continued, "I went for offensive quite often to make use of his immobility. Whew, I almost drained of my energy for this."

Maginvade responded, "Nevertheless, we won! We deserve some breaks now."

"But isn't we should remove the Leech Vines and revive Rayquaza now? We need our rewards." asked Shuy.

"Yeah, and later go somewhere for a nice picnic will be good." said Vivi.

"I shall do this since you girls are too exhausted now." volunteered Eterna.

She ceased her Shadowable, and used her wand to manipulate her Psychic to remove the vines delicately. Next, she created Will-O-Wisp to burn them in the air; which the ashes were blown away by the wind. And lastly, she put her wand back into her tail, and placed a Revival Seed on the dragon's snout. He soon regained consciousness, and realised that he had been defeated in battle.

He levitated above the ground and conjured three Wind Looplets. He said, "As promise, I shall give these to you."

The team inspected the Looplets; they were golden in colour, and a wind symbol engraved at the centre of the bracelet. There was only one Emera slot available. Rayquaza continued his explanation:

"As these items are powerful by themselves, it is only fair that only one Emera can be slotted. I hope the three of you take good care of them."

Vivi replied, "I see. Thank you for giving them to us. Now we can have an easier time battling Dark Matter."

"I am sure that you know that being protected from the ailments is not enough to be victorious in battle." Rayquaza looked at the sky and then continued, "Now, you all must leave the place. May the wind be in your favour."

A Warp Tile appeared in front of the team. As they walked towards the tile, Maginvade requested Eterna to use her portal to warp them to a beach as a relaxing spot for the night after they got out of the dungeon. The dragon heard it; and stopped them.

He enquired about Eterna's move, "Is it true that Eterna could create a portal, and it could lead to any places you want?"

"Well, I have to know the landmark before using Abyss's Door. However, I can only create portals that lead to places on Earth. Why you ask?"

"Hmmm…I been thinking that if the four of you could destroy The Voidland, Dark Matter would not be able to trap the souls of the Pokémons in that place. This means It could not turn the Pokémons into stone, but only infiltrate the gaps in their hearts. At least…it is better not to be tormented by the Void Shadows in that dreaded place."

"Is that place is part of this planet, or the underworld?"

"I am not sure. Because even though our souls were transported into that place, we were not exactly dead. That is why after Dark Matter was defeated, we could return back into our bodies."

"I could try by peering through your visual imagery to find a vantage point to warp to."

"You can do that? Alright, this is what I have in mind."

Eterna closed her eyes. She saw the land covered in pools of lava, and some rocky grounds and mountains. The sky was blazing red; like the underworld she had seen in mythology books.

She said, "Oh my, this is definitely a place that no one wants to go to. Anyway, here goes nothing."

She summoned Abyss's Door. She stepped in the portal, and came back soon afterwards to close the portal. She wiped the sweat of her forehead and continued:

"I saw shadow blobs. They didn't scare me much but they really looked like some creatures in a horror film. And I had seen them transformed into Pokémons. They aren't originally Pokémons, right?"

Rayquaza replied solemnly, "I afraid they are. They are the lingering regrets of the souls of the Pokémons that did not survive. After some times, they decided to prevent anyone that enters to leave the place. I do not know why they chose to do this though."

Vivi commented, "No…this is too tragic. Grendon did not even tell me this at all; I thought they are just embodiments of evil."

Eterna responded, "This is more of a reason to destroy the land; to set them free, and minimise Dark Matter's chances of winning. Alright, thanks Rayquaza. Be safe."

"Yes. Farewell chosen ones."

They left, and they were warped on the partially snow-covered ground below the floating gate. Vivi suggested to go to Freedom Coast as it was known as one of the best beaches in the world for its wide radius of shallow waters, and 'Sea Apples' that grew on its rocky cliffs were sweet, a little mushy texture, but had a hint of saltiness. Her companions agreed, and together they warped to the beach to 'party' as a way to destress themselves before the tedious journey ahead.


	6. The Cleansing of a Realm

**Chapter 6: The Cleansing of a Realm**

Sunrise, and Shuy and Vivi were enjoying their sunbathing. On the other hand, Eterna was swimming along the coast. She loved to swim, so the water did not weaken her. On the other hand, Maginvade came back from the forest with something on her hands.

"Look what I found! A handful of Revival Seeds!"

Shuy rolled over lazily to look at her and replied, "And where did you find them?"

"At the other end of the forest, there was a field of Revival Trees. I thought that someone had farmed these, but there were no houses nearby. So I helped myself to these."

Vivi spoke, "Oh! Why don't we collect more of these then? We really need these seeds."

"Yup! Come on, I shall lead all of you there! But first…"

Maginvade waded in the seawater to wait for Eterna to swim back, then she patted her to stop. She told her about the Revival Field she found and wanted to collect as much as possible, and deposited them in Eterna's Vault. Eterna acknowledged, and together, they got out of the water and she used Cleanse Orb to wash away the salt from their body.

The heroines travelled to the field. The Revival Trees looked like persimmon trees. The fruits were edible as well, but they were known to be incredibly bitter. The trees were lined up neatly in row; and the field was about the size of a football field. The team plucked twenty fruits from all of the trees. Vivi diced all the fruits to reveal roughly four Revival Seeds in each of them. They collected sixty seeds, and deposited them in Eterna's Vault. They ate the flesh too; though Shuy munched most of them since she accepted any kind of food that did not make her stomach upset.

"So…" spoke Eterna, "shall we make our way to The Voidland now?"

Vivi said, "I wonder...can we actually destroy The Voidland? It could be as big as this world itself! Maybe we need to find a weak point; like a core of that world?"

Shuy replied, "Oh, you mean like The Tree of Life that sustains the world? This theory is probable; we can search for that."

Eterna said, "Alright, that means I shall have to put my skill to a test. It is my first, but maybe for _that_ place…"

"Maybe what?" questioned Vivi.

"We might have finish this _sidequest_ pretty quickly."

The group conceded it was time to venture into The Voidland. Eterna used Abyss's Door, and they went in. They arrived at the same spot that Rayquaza had envisioned.

"Okay. So what skill are you gonna use?" Maginvade asked Eterna curiously.

"I am doing some recon. It shall be quick. Don't disturb me while I am at it, okay?"

"Will do!"

Eterna closed her eyes. She emitted some strings of her Curse Power in the air. Her teammates were wary of her move; but the strings avoided them and spread out across the red sky. The girls noticed that Eterna was sweating profusely while using the move. After about ten minutes, the Curse Power strings returned back to Eterna, and she could finally opened her eyes. She took out a Max Elixir and glugged it to replenish her energy. Then she said:

"Good news, I found the weak spot of this place."

Maginvade was astounded, "What? How did you do it? Did your strings scoured the whole place?"

"No, that will take too long. What I did was to 'whisper' to the Void Shadows and they told me that at this place's centre, and surprisingly as what Vivi and Shuy had assumed, you will find a huge leafless tree called The Tree of Hope. They said it was there when they first arrived in this place, so they thought it could be the core of this world. They named it Hope because it created The Door of Light, a way to escape this place. However, only the souls that are not corrupted can enter the door. So those who became Void Shadows will not able to leave this place."

Vivi commented, "I am taken aback they are willing to share their knowledge to you. And how did you exactly understand them? They are just bubbling around!"

"I called it Bleakom. It is a technique that allows me to communicate with dark beings. I invented it when I was secluded in my bedroom for…some reason. "

"Wow, you surprise me all the time with your new skills. I wish I can invent my own unique ones." sulked Maginvade.

"Well, you have a good quality I don't Maginvade; that is Reckless Seeker."

"Hey! At least I always defend my friends!"

While the two exchanged some jokes at each other, Vivi and Shuy watched them at the side lines. Shuy spoke to Vivi:

"I miss that kind of conversation with Zack. I wonder how he is doing without me. By the way, how is your relationship with Grendon?"

"I am not sure how to define our relationship. Because he remembered the memories of his past self, he is not sure how to react in situations. However, I still look up to him. Hmm…maybe you can say we are friends, but I don't know about him that well.

"Ah. Maybe if you get your memory back, you will understand him better."

"I hope so. Anyway, I think we should go now…I sense trouble."

A group of Void Shadows appeared, and they transformed into their Pokémon form. Maginvade then persuaded Eterna:

I think it is a good time to use your Bleakom to convince them not to battle us."

Eterna replied to her softly, "No. If I used it, they will be more enraged because I am not one of them, and yet I am able to communicate to them. Right now, we need to run. There is no point wasting our energy here."

"Okay, let's scram!"

Eterna conjured an Abyss's Door and urged her teammates to enter quickly. She then used Psychic to repel the Void Shadows from approaching her portal, and closed it after the team made it to the other side. They were at the base of a huge leafless brown tree, and it was on top of a lone red rock plateau. At the centre of its trunk, there was a symbol that the group recognised: a symbol of life. They were baffled of why there was a The Tree of Life lookalike in this place.

Vivi spoke, "Umm, does that mean we have to destroy this tree now?"

"We aren't destroying it, we have to vitalise it." replied Eterna.

"But how are we going to do that?"

"That…I hope _Mistress_ Hoopa's teaching would work. You know, when I look at this tree, I think this place is not what it seems to be. Why would it be here that created The Door of Light?"

Vivi was puzzled, "You are right. I am not sure why Dark Matter did not remove something that could hinder his progress. Anyway, we need to end our conversation; we have to deal with _them_ first."

The team was ambushed by the Void Shadows. Besides transforming into their Pokémon form, some of them shape-shifted into their Mega Forms. Maginvade immediately used Leaf Tornado at them and said:

"We will keep them busy, Eterna! Just go ahead and do it!"

"You have my thanks, Maginvade. It won't take long."

Eterna placed her left hand on the trunk and closed her eyes. She performed Spirit Linkage and found herself as a spirit diving in total darkness for some times, till she saw a small ball of white light. As she approached it, the light ball conversed with her. It sounded like a female.

"Who are you? How do you managed to contact me?"

"My name is Eterna, and I used a skill that allows me to speak to one's spirit. I am here to help you recover back your strength."

"Most of my strength had been lost to Dark Matter ages ago…As for you Eterna, I sensed nothing but darkness in you. You cannot recover my energy by using your power that is contrary to mine."

"True, but my power is different. I shall demonstrate."

* * *

As Eterna was in a trance, Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade used their leaf attacks to prevent the Void Shadows from coming closer. Then, Vivi used Petrified Wands to stun them one by one. However, due to the sheer number of the shadows, Vivi had no choice but to use Petrify Orb to stun her enemies within the vicinity of the plateau. A huge number of Void Shadows were paralyzed, and those that were flying landed on the ground. But more unaffected shadows had appeared and soon, the team was surrounded. Vivi hoped that Eterna was done soon as she could not defend against them for long.

* * *

Eterna channelled a little of her Curse Power from her body to the light ball. The light ball shone brightly to protect herself. The Curse Power then changed into light energy and flowed into the light ball; increasing its size.

The light ball exclaimed, "Your energy did not consume my light. Instead it gives me strength? How is that possible?"

Eterna answered, "Let's just say I was a recipient of light, so my power collaborate well with it. Okay, I shall keep on feeding you till you are strong enough!"

She continued to give her energy. As the light ball grew bigger and bigger, the black space became a white void. The light ball then changed form: a different coloured Xerneas. Her upper body was blue and her lower portion was white. She spoke in gratitude:

"Thank you Eterna, I have fully regain my strength. But are you feeling alright? You had given me a great amount of your power."

Eterna wiped her forehead as a habit after using her energy and replied, "I will be fine after a good meal and sleep. I guess it is all up to you now."

"Yes. This place will not be taken by It anymore."

Eterna's spirit returned back to her body. As she opened her eyes, she saw her teammates defending her exhaustedly. She conjured an Abyss's Door behind her and said:

"I'm back, and let's depart from this place, now."

Vivi replied, "Whew, Great! I am out of Petrified Wands and Orbs. Wait a second, what's that?"

The team noticed rainbow light encompassed the tree, and multi-coloured leaves began to sprout. As the group exited the place, the tree spread its light. The Void Shadows briefly returned back to their former self. They were in tears of joy, then they disappeared. The whole place soon covered in light, then it was gone; replaced by a magma chamber.

Once the girls arrived back on the beach, they heard a female voice in their head.

"My name is Xeneras, the protector of the Serenity Forest, and sister of Xerneas. The realm was situated under the Earth's crust; close to the core. It was supposed to be a tranquillity place for the Pokémon souls to find peace before moving on to The Domain of White Clouds. I have eradicated the place, so Dark Matter will not able to use it anymore. Eterna, Thank you for giving me the strength to release the tormented souls from here. Since they were freed, if their stone bodies are still lying around in a good condition, they might be revived. Otherwise, they shall join me to a faraway place. Farewell, and may the stars guide you and your friends to victory in your quest to defeat Dark Matter."

Vivi replied sincerely, "Thank you for giving us hope Xeneras. You had provided Grendon and I the chance to exit from The Voidlands. And thanks for saving the lost souls…"

"I am glad that I could maintain The Door of Light for the two of you to escape using the remaining power I had at that time. Take care, Vivi."

The voice faded. The team had assumed that Xeneras had already gone to a higher plain, and felt no sadness for her departure. As for Eterna, when she heard that she mentioned her teammates as her friend, she blushed. Shuy was the first to realise how quiet Eterna was, and questioned her:

"Is there anything troubles you, Eterna?"

Eterna was startled, "Oh! No…it is just that…are we friends, Shuy? Even though we have only been together for four days?"

"Of course we are! We have been travelling together and saved each other's back aren't we? If we just part of a team, we won't put in effort to protect each other diligently."

"Eterna, we been friends ever since we met each other, so don't think that we are together just for a cause." said Vivi.

"Well…she needs time to mix with us. Anyway, isn't it is a good news, Eterna? You have more friends now!" commented Maginvade.

Eterna cried a little, "I am…happy to hear this. Thank you, Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade."

Vivi cheered, "Haha! I am glad this clears up. By the way, since it is still in the morning, do the three of you want to see something interesting nearby? I want to clarify something as well."

The rest nodded. Vivi then took them into the forest. After some trekking, the heroines arrived in an open area with numerous stone blocks in different sizes aligned neatly in rows. On a closer inspection of the blocks, they mentioned about the statues' Pokémon name, yet there were no statues on top of it. Instead, the team noticed a group of Pokémons crowing together and chatting about something. One of the Pokémons, a purple leopard-like cat, approached the team with a smile on his face. He said:

"Hello, you all must be the ones we encountered before. My name is Liepard, and I must thank you for helping Xeneras to free us from The Voidland. My friends and I had been in that place for centuries, and because we were consumed by our own hatred, we had blocked many from escaping. For that, we are sorry for what we had done."

Vivi responded, "It is alright, I can feel your pain from being trapped there for a long time, so you would resort to this. But now, there is no need to dwell on these things."

"It is not easy as you said to forget the times we had in there, but we shall try. Oh yes, before the four of you entered there, we had received a word from Dark Matter. It did not sound like Dark Matter from our world as It was speaking in alien tongue, but we understood what it meant. It stated once It arrived in this world, It will annihilated those who go against It, including their soul…And the Void Shadows will be freed from that place to roam the world. We were elated from the news, and we did not care about returning to our bodies anymore as we just want to swallow anything in sight."

"Hold on, did you said It will even extinguished our soul? This is BAD."

Liepard nodded solemnly, "Yes…but I know the four of you will do something about It. I can tell because I sensed the four of you aren't from this world, and must had been summoned to save us. Please, I beg of you all, to save our world once more."

"We will, you will have my word."

"Thank you...I shall join back to my friends. We are planning to travel around the world to warn of the dangers."

"Actually, we don't want other Pokémons to panic from hearing this, but I guess it is best to alert them to save themselves before It sweeps them."

"Yes, since this Dark Matter is not the usual one we had encountered before. Alright, I shall be seeing you, and all the best to you and your friends."

"Yup! See you, Liepard."

They parted ways. Vivi led the team back to the beach, and brainstorming on improving their strategy against Dark Matter.

"Okay," she said, "we cannot afford to let Dark Matter free from the barrier, Eterna. There is too many risk involved."

Eterna cautioned, "My barrier won't be broken easily if I go into Obliteration Oppressive Form, but I will be giving you all trouble if I do _that_ , I shall analyse the situation before I go that far. No worries, I will be in my Obliteration Form for that battle to maintain the barrier. It is my first transformation form and I will have a great boost of power, and I will be fearless so please warn me of anything that could harm us."

"If there is no other choice, it is alright to do it. We will be careful when you are in your second form."

Shuy voiced her opinion, "I don't think that is a problem since you still retain your memory of us. Just resist the urge to…attack us. Besides, I can foresee what you will do so we will always one step ahead of you."

Maginvade snickered, "As for me, I rather smack your face with my tail haha! But yeah, worrying in a battle will put us in a bad position, so just do what you think is needed, Eterna!"

Eterna grinned, "Will do. Thank you for your advices, my friends."

Vivi spoke, "Anyway! I think we have prepared anything we could now. Or should we visit the Island of Isolation to be familiar with the surroundings?"

"Hmm, this is important. I guess we can go since it is still early in the day. And later, rest please. I am still tired from the battle just now." said Shuy.

"Yeah, we shall do that. Kind of think of it, if Dark Matter from space was able to contact the Void Shadows, does that mean It is close to Earth? Xerneas haven't notify us of It's arrival so how It managed to do that?"

"We might never know. For now, let's head to the island."

The team warped using Abyss's Door. Little did they know, there was a Pokémon awaiting them there.

* * *

Another art for this chapter! art/Psychic-Explosion-592599918

I will be posting the next chapter in weeks time. I am working now so I need more time to type my fanfic and colouring art. Have a great day!


	7. Creating a Path of Hope

**Chapter 7: Creating a Path of Hope**

The Pokémon gazed at the heroines as it was levitating above. He was golden in colour, had tentacle arms of green and gold, pointy legs, and a red core as his power source. His face looked like a mask with no lips. He flew towards them and enquired:

"Are the four of you on a quest to defeat Dark Matter?"

Vivi replied, "Yes. How do you know about it?"

"I am a brother of Deoxys. Although my name is also Deoxys, you can call me Deo for short. We are assisting Hydreigon in surveying the space around this planet. What we found…was alarming."

"What is it?"

"I saw Dark Matter was on the way past the moon, but it suddenly disappeared."

"That is weird. Did it leave any trace behind?"

"I did sense a space distortion. That means, It may appear here anytime. I apologise, but I have to warn Xerneas about this. Please be vigilant. Take care."

"Wait! How did you know we will be here?"

Deo responded by shouting while flying away, "Xerneas told me about it, but it is just a coincidence that I had landed here just a few minutes before the four of you arrived. Alright see you!"

He was gone. Vivi tilted her head in puzzlement.

"What's the matter?" asked Shuy.

"Something is off. I don't think that Deoxys has a brother. We should visit Xerneas, NOW."

Eterna nodded, "Agreed. Let's go!"

They warped to the base of The Tree of Life via Abyss's Door. They were glad that Xerneas was alright. As the legendary noticed the group having a sigh of relief, she asked:

"Is there something troubling the four of you?"

Vivi answered, "Well…we just met golden Deoxys in Island of Isolation. Does Deoxys truly have a brother? And, is he your assistant in searching for abnormalities in space?"

"No, I do not have an assistant. Also, Deoxys is a virus evolved in space due to a cosmic power. Since you have mentioned this, we have to…"

"Already done!"

Eterna had conjured a huge Shadowable Barrier Form to shield The Tree of Life. She was in her Obliteration Form. Her body had turned white, and her eyes were blazing red. Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade were astonished of her sudden change of appearance.

"Why did you set up a barrier now, Eterna?" Maginvade questioned her.

The vixen spoke, "I don't like him; he had something vast hidden within him. I am not sure whether he is a foe, but I am not taking any chances than to protect the life core of this planet!"

Xerneas said, "I see, Eterna had sensed something in _that_ Deoxys. I shall alert the residents to flee from this area at once."

She screeched, and soon the forest floor rumbled upon their footsteps, and the sky was filled with flying Pokémons heading away from the area. Xerneas then told Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade:

"You all should be prepare for a battle. I have a feeling it will be a tough one."

"Oh? Am I found out?"

The group heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Deo floating above the barrier. He looked at them with a menacing smile and chuckled:

"Hahaha! All of you are wary of me isn't it? I guess it is time to reveal myself."

He transformed into a black humongous ball, with black tentacles sprouting all over him.

Xerneas commented, "Dark Matter! How did you managed to escape from my sight?"

"Well, I do not need to explain am I? If you think I am like _that_ Dark Matter, it will be your downfall. And now…"

With a swoop of Its tentacles, Eterna's barrier was shattered. Eterna was appalled, so does her friends, but she had no time to think about it. She summoned Devoid Dominance: an attack of five black beams in all angles. Dark Matter did not avoided the beams. It laughed as they did not affect It at all. Eterna knew her attacks would not harm It much, but she had to give an opportunity for Vivi and the rest to attack.

Xerneas started first by using Dazzling Gleam. Dark Matter was hit, and Its movement was impeded. Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade then used a combination of three status infliction wands to hinder It further. Later, Xerneas used Moonblast. The black ball was encased in the pink light. It seemed to be in pain, until It said:

"All of you hoped that I am weakened isn't it? Unfortunately, your attacks did _nothing_ on me. Oh well, I thought by notifying you heroines to prepare for a battle may give you all an edge over me, but I have to digress, it is pointless. I shall take The Tree of Life now!"

It flew over the rainbow tree and warped it with Its tentacles. It continued to devour the tree despite the attacks from the group and Xerneas. As Xerneas was an incarnate of The Tree of Life, she felt her energy drained progressively. In a last ditch effort, she created a small light ball and passed it to Vivi. Vivi was astounded:

"What is this, Xerneas?"

"Take it, and go. As long my energy is not lost, the planet will survive. Now leave this place while It is still focusing on me!"

"But we can defeat It! We can't just let It win!"

"Right now, you can't. But in time…there is a probability. Go, now!"

Eterna had heard the conversation between Vivi and Xerneas. She created an Abyss Door and used Psychic to move her friends into the portal. Vivi was the only one that fidgeting, and was shouting that it was wrong to leave the battle and let Dark Matter succeeded in taking The Tree of Life. Shuy then replied:

"If he gets to us, even with the Wind Looplets, they can't guarantee our lives. We need to calm down and plan on of how to bring It down somewhere."

Maginvade responded, "Yeah Vivi! And since we have the light ball entrusted to us by Xerneas, we should find a place safe to keep it as well."

Eterna said, "In all, we have not fail yet, but you girls must get across safely."

Vivi answered, "Wait…what?"

The portal entrance closed after the trio, and they were warped to her room in The Pokémon Expedition Society building. Vivi was sure that Eterna did not ask of her imagery of the place, so she was baffled on how she knew the place. In addition, she was thinking of why Eterna had stayed back, until she realised of what Eterna had said to them before at Freedom Coast.

"Oh no…Eterna!"

* * *

"It seems she has to do _it_." commented had transformed into Oppressive Form by unsealing the lock within her. As she looked at Dark Matter almost swallowing the tree whole, and Xerneas slowing disappearing but showing signs of disbelief of her second form, she smirked:

"Oh goody. With no _obstacles_ in my way, I can go all out now, isn't it?"


	8. Preparation against the Inevitable

**Chapter 8: Preparation against the Inevitable**

Vivi walked left and right in the hall of the Pokémon Expedition Building, thinking of what to do next. She wanted to save Eterna, but she had to keep the light ball safe. Should the light ball was taken by Dark Matter, life on Earth would ceased to exist. She cried at the thought of her helplessness to save her.

The commotion from Vivi and her friends attracted the attention of Swirlix. The Cotton Candy Pokémon hopped out of the kitchen and approached them. She asked:

"What's da matter, Vivi? Did something bad happenz?"

Vivi replied in tears, "Oh Swirlix, our friend is battling an immensely strong foe. She warped us away to save us while she handles It on her own. But…"

"My swirl! I think we should discuss this with the other members. I shall bring them inz, if that is okay withz you?"

"Alright…"

Soon, Swirlix led the other expeditioners around the trio. Sir Ampharos looked at Shuy and Maginvade, and later enquired Vivi about the matter. Vivi explained to him about the scenario they were in right now, and she wanted to head back to save Eterna. Sir Ampharos nodded his head, and instructed his employees to head out to sea via riding Lapras Travel Liner, except Swirlix and Jirachi. Swirlix was fine with it as she just loved to eat, and there were plenty of food in the building. Jirachi on the other hand sigh in disappointment as he was bored of looking at the stars all the time. But he knew that he had something to do in his room right now.

He said, "I guess I have to improve on my telescope. Dark Matter blends well in space since it is dark and all, but I can't accept the fact that It slipped through my detection. I wish all of you the best, expeditioners, and please be careful alright?"

He went back to his room, with his head drooping down. Sir Ampharos decided to break the awkward silence.

"Alright team, let's pack our stuffs for the journey ahead. Vivi, we will find Eterna for you. In the meantime, I suggest the three of you to look for Grendon. Currently he is in Revelation Mountain, though I do not know the reason why he wanted to go there."

Vivi said in gratitude, "Thank you, sir. May I ask, where is Dedenne?"

"Ah. She is helping the town folks to find safety in the underground shelters. As for us, we are planning how to take down Dark Matter, though this can wait till we save your friend."

Vivi thanked him once more for putting Eterna's safety as the first priority. Sir Ampharos just shrugged in return, and stated that it was what friends would do for each other.

Archen commented, "Kind of think of it, will Lapras agree to bring all of us to somewhere faraway again? Maybe we should ride on the flying Pokémons for a quicker transport instead. I know three Aerodactyls that could help us get across the ocean quickly."

"I agree to his idea. At least I won't be worrying about the sea waves…" said Bunnelby.

Buizel responded, "But isn't riding in the air is much more dangerous? You know, headwinds and updrafts?"

Bunnelby frowned at Buizel, but spoke nothing.

"Well…I have a colleague that is about to teleport us to that place." suggested Mawile, "He knows the map of the world. His name is Alakazam. Shall I contact him?"

Sir Ampharos smiled, "Ah, again my employees have beaten me in planning! Yes Mawile, it would be much appreciated if he can help us out."

"Alright, give me a moment."

Sir Ampharos then faced the trio and continued, "Vivi, you and your friends should go now. There is no need to wait for us. We will contact you for anything important."

She nodded, "Okay, we shall head out now."

The trio waved goodbyes to the members and walked out of the building. Maginvade was impressed that the expedition members did not question further about their quest. She assumed that they respected Vivi and did not want to pry for more information out of her.

"So," she asked Vivi, "how long does it takes for us to reach him?"

Vivi replied seriously, "Hours. Let's make haste."

They left the 'quiet' Lively Town, brisk-walked pass the mountains without stopping, and entered the lush tropical forest. When they encountered a security fence on a steep slope, Vivi knew that that was the way to Revelation Mountain. The fence was guarded by Carracosta. He was Grendon's foster dad, so Vivi requested him to let them pass, hoping he would not object it.

"Ah Vivi," he said, "you and your friends can proceed. Grendon is at the dried sacred lake right now. For you to be here, I am sure you have something important to share with him. If that's the case, head west after you go past me; you will avoid entering the dungeon."

"Thank Uncle Carracosta." she replied.

He smiled, "Hmmm! Take care, Vivi."

The trio followed his advice. As the sun was setting, they managed to reach the peak of the mountain. They were shocked to see Grendon using Hydro Pump into the semi-filled lake.

Vivi said, "The sacred water was from your saliva, Grendon?"

Grendon was startled and turned around to find Vivi and her friends looking disgusted.

He answered with a sense of humour, "Umm, yeah? I am a _sacred_ being after all, haha! Anyway, why are you back here? I know Dark Matter is in this world, but isn't you should be fighting It now?"

"I brought _something_."

She passed him a light ball. Grendon's eyes widen.

"Does that mean…Xerneas is in trouble?" he said.

"Yes…and she wants me to keep it safe. Grendon, can I trust you to hold it for me? I need to save Eterna."

"Eterna? What has happened to her?"

"She is fighting Dark Matter on her own…"

"This is no good. Her power…"

"What about it?"

"Never mind about that. Alright, I will keep Xerneas's energy safe. You should go to her now."

"Thanks, but it will take days to…"

"Beep beep!"

Vivi took out her Expedition Gadget and pressed the button at the centre to receive the call.

"Hey, Vivi! Can you hear me?" The voice was from Sir Ampharos.

She answered, "Yes, I heard you."

"We had teleported to that island. And now, we are back in the Pokémon Expedition Building. I want you to come back here as soon as possible."

She exclaimed, "What? Right away!"

"It sounds urgent" worried Shuy.

Grendon spoke, "I guess it is time for you to go now. I will do what I can to help the Pokémon in this village in preparation of Its invasion. I shall see you then."

Vivi replied solemnly, "Yes…See you, Grendon."

The trio headed back to Pokémon Expedition Building. They saw the expedition members crowding at the centre of the hall. Sir Ampharos sensed their presence and told them:

"We found her, but…"

The members moved away to reveal Oppressive Form Eterna kneeled down motionlessly and her head and ears drooping down. There were stab marks all over her body, except her head, and she was bleeding profusely. Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade began to cry to mourn for her.

" _I am not dead you know?"_

Everyone was astonished of hearing Eterna's words through telepathy.

"Eterna! You are alright!" surprised Vivi and she wiped her tears away.

Shuy was dumbfounded, "Actually, I can't fathom how she is still alive…"

"I know you are a toughie, but you really scared me there…"said Maginvade.

"We were saved by her when we got there…" explained Buizel. "We were almost being pierced by Dark Matter until…And I thought she was…"

" _Heh, incompetence expeditioners. I faked my death so as to save you all from Dark Matter that was looming over the area where The Tree of Life once stood. If It found out I was still alive, all of you will be smothered and leave no traces of your soul behind. Anyway, does anyone of you have a Max Elixir? Just pour it into my mouth._ "

Vivi took out her Max Elixir and used her vines to tilt Eterna's head up and opened her mouth. Then, she poured the liquid into her mouth. All of a sudden, Eterna's wounds began to close progressively. The vixen was using Umbrae Mend to heal herself, but required lots of energy and concentration. Once she was fully healed, she opened her eyes and gazed at her.

She finally spoke, "I appreciate it, Vivi. Well then, time to explain the situation we are facing now, shall we? Alright, as you can see, I have clearly lost the battle. And, It had consumed the whole tree. Right now, It is seeking for an entrance to Worldcore."

"Worldcore?" baffled Maginvade, "Does that mean It is…"

"There is no confirmation of what It wants to do. Well, I don't want It to have Its way, but I am not strong enough to even scratch It. Heh, my Curse Power has no effect on him, and I can't use Essence Lock or Essence Unbound as It has no soul but a collection negativity of other living beings. Anyway, that means I have no other ways to slow him down. Any suggestions?"

"May I know how you knew It is going there?" questioned Mawile.

"I heard It stated this when It flew away from me."

"This is a difficult situation. How are we gonna stand up to It?" concerned Bunnelby.

All of a sudden, Mawile had an idea after listening to Bunnelby, "Stand up to it? That' it! We need numbers! Since the Pokémons in Mist Continent had just recently won the battle against Bittercold, they might be willing to face It."

Archen said, "Sounds good! Shall we warped to there now? We can ask Alakazam once more for his help."

"No need to." said Eterna as she conjured an Abyss's Door. The expedition members were surprised.

"Wow, you can create a portal just like Hoopa!" astounded Sir Ampharos. "But where does it leads to?"

"Well, I sensed a mental image from the Cotton Candy Pokémon. I believe it is called Noe Town in Mist Continent. If this continent is almost a mirror image of the other continent in another universe, then the entrance to Worldcore is near the huge lake with an ice island."

Swirlix was embarrassed, "Oh oopz. I was thinking about yummy food in the town. Hehe!"

"Haha, he always think of food in any situation." responded Mawile. "By the way Eterna, I had been to the ice island. It is called Frozen Falls. Since I have a memory of it, you can read mine to open a gateway to there."

Sir Ampharos applauded, "Excellent! All of you should go now so that there is time rally the Pokemons to fight by our side! And as always, Swirlix and Jirachi have to stay back."

Mawile asked Sir Ampharos, "How about you, sir?"

"Well…I am a Wanderer Extraordinaire, so that means I will…you know?"

Everyone laughed at his 'talent', except Eterna as she thought it was an uninteresting joke. She tuned her Abyss's Door based on Mawile's visualisation and said:

"There, it is all done. However, I will not come with you lots."

"Why, Eterna?" questioned Vivi.

"I need some time to prepare some moves that I can take It down."

"I understand. You know, I thought you might retaliate against us in that form of yours."

"I could huh? But there is no point doing this petty thing. I wish you all the best; Vivi, Shuy, Maginvade and the members of Pokémon Pokémon Expedition Society."

Vivi nodded, "We will. See you soon, Eterna!"

She wondered why 'normal' Eterna was reluctant in her second form 'She' seemed alright, just that she was a little rude in her conversation.

The group entered the portal, and it closed after them. Eterna stretched her limbs and her back, then she created another Abyss's Door.

She said, "Well then, it is time for me to meet an old _friend_ of mine."

"Wait. I wish to talk to you, Eterna." requested Sir Ampharos.

"And that is?"

"Why will Dark Matter mentioned that it will be heading to Worldcore to you?"

"Heh! What can you expect from a blob of negativity thoughts? It can't really think straight so It blahs out Its scheme."

"I have another question: What will you do when Dark Matter is defeated?"

"That huh? Would you believe if I said I want to conquer the world?"

"Highly likely. You are powerful enough to do it."

"Even so, there is nothing I would gain from doing it, and the determination of the Pokémons in this world will defeat me in time. Anyway, I should go now. Nice to see you, Ampharos."

She warped away using her portal. Sir Ampharos then went into a thinking stance."

"Is Eterna's words bothering you, sir?" questioned Jirachi.

"No, but she got me curious of what she is doing next." He then faced the entrance and called for someone, "Alakazam?"

Alakazam levitated into the building's entrance and replied, "Yes, Sir Ampharos?"

"Have you tracked down where Eterna is heading?"

"Yes. Do you want me to lead you to her now?"

"No yet. I need to pack some stuffs."

Sir Ampharos went to his room and took out an X-Ray Specs that he found in his travels to Grass Continent. He wore it and took his sling bag along as well. He walked back to the hall and notified Alakazam.

"Alright, I am fully prepared. This time, I will not get lost." Then he turned to face Jirachi and Swirlix, "Remember to keep the building safe, you two!"

They nodded.

Alakazam commented, "I shall Teleport you there now."

They warped away. Jirachi then asked Swirlix.

"Well…since we are the only ones left in this building, do you want to see me working on my telescope?"

"Sure thingz! You won't mindz that I eat some Applesz in your roomz?"

"Haha, why not?"

They went to the third floor. In their hearts, they hoped that everyone would be safe from Dark Matter's onslaught.


	9. Fighting for the World

**Chapter 9: Fighting for the World**

"And to think that Dark Matter went ahead to swallow the whole Tree of Life, rather than taking out the core." mentioned Maginvade.

Maginvade spoke with a little sense of humour, "And there is no opportunity for us to reason with It. It is definitely as cold and spiky as the ice island here."

Shuy replied, "I guess we have no choice but to try to stall Its progress. Should we go to Worldcore's entrance? Hydreigon should be there."

Vivi agreed, "Yes. Let's go."

Mawile said, "Alright, the expeditioners will gather the Pokémons at frozen lakeside to hold It off as long as possible. See you later, Vivi!"

She responded with a smile, "Thanks…and good luck to all of you."

They went their separate ways. The trio headed to Worldcore which was in the west direction from where they were. After about thirty minutes of brisk walking, they reached an orange barrier that was shielding the entrance to Worldcore. Hydreigon was hovering around the barrier; till she saw the trio on the ground below her. She swooped down and greeted them:

"Hello, Vivi, Shuy, and Maginvade. I know the situation; Dark Matter is fast approaching here. Good thing that Worldcore prevented It from warping ever since It enter this world. Currently, I am closing the entrance to Worldcore so It will not be able to penetrate easily."

Vivi was glad, "Whew, that's good! I am thinking the same way. I guess we can gather Pokémons to join us to battle now."

"Yup, go ahead. It will be good if you can coach them on defending against Its piercing as well."

The heroines joined the expeditioners and together, they managed to rally hundreds of Pokémons at the frozen lakeshore. Vivi then took the lead and asked:

"Alright, we need to prepare for Dark Matter's attacks. It will use piercing to try to injure all of you. I would like to know if anyone knows the move Reflect, Protect or Detect? And Safeguard to block Its status infliction moves."

A handful of Pokémons knew one of the moves. They were Golducks, Hitmontops, Glalies, Pachirisus, Musharnas, and Goodras. Vivi then instruct the attackers to partner with the wall user in a ratio of three to one. And, she told them to wait for Dark Matter in the safety of the forest to hide their presence. If It strike too swiftly, or using status infliction moves, the wall users would have to defend their team. The resident Pokémons acknowledged of her strategy, and began to move to their preferred spot. Even the expeditioners were joining the battle, and decided to stick together as they knew each other's attack style.

Now, Vivi, Shuy and Maginvade were playing a waiting game for Dark Matter to arrive.

* * *

"My goodness! Isn't this is!?"

Sir Ampharos was standing in front of a white tall tower that scaled above the clouds in a night sky. The tower had a distinctive feature: white horns on the walls of the tower at every floor. There were no openings, except the entrance. Sir Ampharos was convinced that he was at the entrance to Destiny Tower. Then he heard a voice:

"I _knew_ you will follow me. Nice glasses by the way."

He turned around to see Eterna still in her Oppressive Form levitating behind him. She continued her conversation:

"Well well, are you really that keen on observing me? I am going to visit You Know Who."

He replied, "Of course, and I wonder what business do you have with Him."

"Interested huh? Why don't we see Him now?"

"But, are we really going to attempt all ninety-nine floors?"

"Yes. Well, going _pass_ all of them that is."

She used Psychic on Sir Ampharos, and together, they flew up alongside the tower till the top of it. There, a huge Arc Pokémon was looking at them as they landed on the floor.

Eterna said with a little disappointment, "Hmm…I expect a barrier at the roof, but you didn't make one, _Arceus_."

"I have been expecting you, Eterna. You want a different type of power, aren't you?"

"Of course. So is it a yes or a no?"

"I should give you a warning first. If you receive this power, you will no longer able to go into your current form, and your normal Obliteration Form. This is the restrictions I placed in this offer."

"Heh. So you are afraid I will be too overwhelming powerful, and being a jerk in utilising your gift huh?

"I am sure you remembered you wanted to bring me down from behind before. That attitude of yours is not acceptable. However at that time, your true power was required so I had no qualms about your rudeness."

"It is my way of saying hi to you. Well, I could return your gift back to you anytime, yes?"

Arceus nodded.

She responded delightfully, "Alright, I agree to your terms."

Arceus formed a small light ball above His head. He directed the light ball to the front of Eterna. She clenched it, and immediately, she was reverted back to her normal form. Sir Ampharos could not help but to exclaim.

"What had happened? And I did not know you knew Arceus that well!"

Eterna responded with a sigh, "Whew…I am back. Yes sir, it was not long ago that I met him during an urgent situation in the other world. Arceus had separate Himself into all existing universes, and share the information among themselves. That is why Arceus in this world can recognise me."

"I see. So this light power...Have you had this before?"

"Yup! It was for an insurance for _my world_ haha! Since I have it again, I have to practice. Anyway, do you have a question to ask of Him, Sir Ampharos?"

"I think…there is a topic I want to clarify with him, but he might not have an answer."

Arceus conceded as He read Sir Ampharos's mind, "Indeed, I am not a creator of Dark Matter; Its nature baffled me. Even I could not retaliate Its Fossilized attack. And to have a Dark Matter from the other planet here…it is a catastrophe for us. I hope my light could aid you, Eterna."

Eterna answered with gratitude, "Yes, thanks to you, Arceus, I have an edge to defeat It. Anyway, I should practice whether I can perform the light attacks like I did before. Shining Sphere, Purity Swirl, Malleaglow, Divert Deviation, Evogise, Shining Sphere of Empathy, and lastly, Hurrisurge of Liberation…"

Sir Ampharos saw a rapid transformation of her moves. He was astounded that she could manipulate light so easily even she had a power contrary to it. After Eterna had ceased her demonstration, he coincidently received a call from Wigglytuff. He pushed the button at the centre of his Expedition Gadget to accept the call.

Wigglytuff spoke first, "Hello Ampharos, my friend. The Pokémon Explorers Federation had received distress calls from the Pokémons being attacked by Dark Matter. Even though most of them were unharmed because they had hidden themselves thanks to the warnings circulating around, those that were found out were killed. Others that were fine heard that It was planning to let the planet intact, but because The Void was destroyed, It decided there was no need to be merciful but to eradicate everything as a punishment. We are desperate here, and I wonder whether you had any good interventions to take It down."

He answered, "Good evening my friend, Wigglytuff. I might have found a solution. May I know where Its whereabouts?"

"It is currently flying above Cape of Wonders. It is travelling at an incredible speed despite of Its size though. Are you planning to intercept It now?"

"In time, we are about to engage It in battle."

"I see; good luck. I am sorry my team and I can't be with you as we have to protect our continent; just in case that It decides to cause havoc here. We shall keep in touch, my friend, and let's give it our all for this battle!"

"Yes. After this is over, let's have a drink of blended Perfect Apples, Wigglytuff!"

"Oh! I can't wait haha. Alright, it is a promise then!"

Wigglytuff ended the call. Arceus then created a portal for Eterna and Sir Ampharos to leave.

"This portal," He said, "leads the both of you to an advantageous point of Frozen Falls to look out for Dark Matter. I can see that the Pokémons who are willing to fight alongside your friends are ready as well."

"Thank you, Arceus." replied Eterna.

"I should be thanking you for understanding my dilemma for unable to battle It. Good luck to the both of you."

Eterna and Sir Ampharos appreciated of His wish for them. They entered the portal, and exited on outside the glacier's cave, which was situated near the peak of Frozen Falls. Eterna instinctively lit up her wand to keep Sir Ampharos and herself warm. From afar, they could see Eterna's friends discussing about something at the frozen lakeside. She requested Sir Ampharos to contact Vivi. He obliged, and soon, they heard a click sound from Vivi's end.

"Yes, who is this?" she said.

"Is me, Sir Ampharos. I think I should include gadget tracing so we know who is calling who huh? By the way, Eterna is with me at the moment. Do you want us to go to your location?"

"That's great! Will she be able to come down with you to meet us at the frozen lakeside?"

Eterna answered, "Nope, I will be staying here. I have a plan of my own."

"What? I guess you can do it your own way then…"

Sir Ampharos chuckled, "Oh well! I will be right there, Vivi. I shall join the battle."

"That will be very much appreciated, sir."

He then end the call and turned to face Eterna. He said, "I shall make my way to them. Are you sure you want to be alone in this?"

"Yup, I want to surprise It with my new moves. I shall see you again, Sir Ampharos, and sorry for being rude before. I wasn't in my…"

Sir Ampharos patted on her head, "It is alright! I shall be seeing you then."

He repositioned his X-Ray Specs before he slid down the icy slope to the bottom. Eterna giggled a little as she thought he was trying to act cool in front of her. Little that she knew that he would even get lost by just sliding down the slope without the spectacles. Since she had not seen Dark Matter closing, she practiced her light attacks one more time, and trying to create a new attack style.

* * *

"So…should we try Alliance against It?" suggested Maginvade.

Shuy envisioned it and said, "Rapid attacks with higher hit ratio…it is a good idea, but it can be exhausting. Maybe we can do this in a pinch?"

Vivi responded, "I feel we should use our best cards when we engaged It at the start of the battle. We can't be conservative since It is a powerful foe."

The trio were debating on which attack moves they should use when Dark Matter arrived. It did not take long for Sir Ampharos to skate on the frozen lake to where they were. He chuckled:

To think I could skate on an icy lake hohoho! Well then, I am here to support the three of you. What do you want me to do then?"

Maginvade questioned him, "Why are you wearing a shades right now?"

"Oh. I am wearing an X-Ray Specs to…help me avoid obstacles!"

Vivi giggled, "Haha! I know the reason why you wear this, sir, but I shall keep mum about this. By the way, are you good in creating walls?"

"No, but I can use Zap Cannon with great accuracy, although it requires me to charge for this. I hope this might stun Dark Matter a little, then the others might have the opportunity to attack It."

"Great! If your Zap Cannon is registered for Alliance, it may hit Dark Matter all the time. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, if that is what you want, _leader_. I will follow your instructions since you have the knowledge of battling It."

Vivi replied embarrassingly as now she had to lead her boss for the upcoming battle, "Uh…I hope I can live to your expectation, sir. Alright, let's do this!"

Sir Ampharos took out his Huge Meal Looplet, which looked like a golden glazed donut, to prevent him for feeling hungry after using Alliance. After registering his move, Eterna's Psychic was unregistered as only four members were allowed to use the combination attack, and she was the last one to key in her move.

All of a sudden, they received a telepathy from Musharna that Dark Matter had come close to the battleground. The team noticed the black ball of tentacles hovering low to the ground and moving quickly at the south. The resident Pokémons used their long range attacks at It, but It countered by shooting its 'spears' at them. The resident Pokémons managed to dodge Its attack, and continued their assault on It. Dark Matter was annoyed, but decided to press on, until It was hit by a Zap Cannon which had its accuracy boosted from Team Interstellar's Alliance from afar. Being paralysed, It bellowed in anger:

"Argh you pesky insignificant beings, all of you should be dead right after I consumed The Tree of Life. Fine, it doesn't matter. Once I destroyed Worldcore, the destruction of this planet will be imminent!"

It produced black haze around Its parameter. The black haze touched the canopy of the trees, causing the leaves to wither and gradually killed the trees. The wall users stepped in and used Safeguard to shield from the status infliction move. Those teams that did not have the move used Health Orb to protect themselves. Using this chance, Dark Matter proceeded to Worldcore since the Pokémons could not attack It in the current situation. It cured Itself from paralysis, and moved on. Luckily, Vivi, Shuy, Maginvade and Sir Ampharos were at the safe distance from the black haze. They used their Pounce Wand at It and used their Alliance once more. Dark Matter was astonished of the surprise attack, and when It was about to attack them, Vivi used her Warp Wand at It and It suddenly appeared above Frozen Falls. Vivi knew that the warping was random, but she did not expected It would be warped to there, and It was now closer to Worldcore. She hoped that Eterna could do something to stop It.

As what Vivi had wished for, numerous spears of white light penetrated into Dark Matter. Dark Matter screamed in agony as the light slowly spread out from the spears on Its shell. It had no choice but to split Itself into dark blobs that were not affected by the light. Its blobs swirled around the peak of Frozen Falls; avoiding the light spears aiming at It. However, it did not anticipate another move: Purity Swirl, which was a white wave of light, flowed out of the peak to purify the black haze. Although it managed to avoid the attack, it was greatly weakened by Eterna's light attack. The resident Pokémons saved by the wave light made their way to Frozen Fall, so does Vivi and her team. Dark Matter could sense the Pokémons were heading towards It, but It ignored them and focused on attacking Eterna this time. By manipulating the dark blobs, they produced negative gases to destroy Eterna's Divert Deviation. This barrier, created by Eterna before her battle against It, was only effective to reflect any status infliction attacks. But each time it reflected them, the barrier would be less powerful. Eterna realised the threat. She persisted in maintaining her barrier till help arrived as she was about to be out of energy. Dark Matter understood that she was getting exhausted. It extended Its attacks, and soon It saw cracks in her defence. It laughed:

"I thought I had ended you. But this time, I shall eradicate you!"

Eterna replied, "Silly, do you think I will let you do that?"

Multiple Hyper Beams rammed onto Dark Matter. As It was distracted of the attacks, Eterna conjured Abyss's Door and made her getaway. By doing so, her Divert Deviation was shattered, and once Dark Matter had heard the shattering, she was long gone.

* * *

Vivi's team were on the frozen lake; making their way to Frozen Falls. There were Pokémons managed to reach there by air, and assaulted Dark Matter using their long range moves. Soon, the land dwellers crowded around the ice island, and threw their best long distance moves at It. The attacks infuriated Dark Matter even more. It dispersed Its dark blobs into smoke, and made Its way to Worldcore. Now Vivi was in a dilemma; they could not attack it as it was not in a physical form. Deciding that she would not seek of Eterna's whereabouts, she requested a ride of any flying Pokémon. Skarmory came into her aid, and lifted her and her teammates into the air; travelling at one hundred and forty kilometres per hour towards Worldcore. On the other hand, Shuy had a vision of what would happen to them once they reached their destination. She gulped at the thought of it, but she did not inform her teammates as that scene in the near future was best not to interfere.

At the barrier to the entrance of it, Dark Matter had materialise Itself and trying to break through the wall. Hydreigon was within the shield, and she was speaking to It.

"Why do You want to destroy our world? Clearly You know we didn't contribute to You came into being."

It replied, "I want to end every planet hosting life. Sentient life harbours ill-feelings towards each other. So they must be killed, for I am their _true_ nature."

"It doesn't make sense; why is wrong to have negative feelings within ourselves? That is how we are able to stay alive."

"I am not a being to be reasoned with. The Universe is the one you should speak, _Spirit of Life_."

Dark Matter continued Its attacks on the barrier, till a leaf attack hit It. It turned around to find Vivi and her teammates alighted from Skarmory.

Surprisingly, It did not attack her. It asked her in a slightly irritated tone, "What do you want, leafling?"

She said, "Please, can we at least talk about it? You mentioned about The Universe right? If that is the case, isn't you should be talking to It instead, like why You existed?"

"I never thought of that for I am just an embodiment of hatred, and killing is what I love to do. In a way, this is WHAT you beings wanted; killing to live."

"I...would want to speak with The Universe. Can you bring me there?

"You are already in Its domain, leafling. However, I do not know where you can speak to It for it is rumoured that only a certain place in every planet enables you to speak to It. But since you are searching for the answer about Me, I shall not harm you. But for the others…"

It pierced all the Pokémons within Its vicinity, including Vivi's team. Vivi and Hydreigon were devastated to see them collapsed on the ground, grasping. She cried, and searching something in her sling bag that could aid them. But there were no items that could heal wounds quickly…

Dark Matter went on with his conversation, "Do you resent me?"

She continued to sob, "No, but why must you do that…"

"I will continue to harm the creatures here as a reminder to you that you have limited time to seek Its audience, and I will keep attempting to break through Worldcore's barrier. If you really want to save your world, find the answer of My existence before I destroy this planet."

Hydreigon instructed her, "Go to Guidance Ruins. You will find the answer you seek."

"But…Sir Ampharos, Shuy, Maginvade, and the others…"

"There is no time! Go, now! You are our only hope."

Vivi understood that should she did not do anything, Dark Matter would continue to wound the Pokémons. But she had no quick way to reach Mystery Continent.

Without warning, an Abyss's Door appeared in front of her. Vivi turned around to look for Eterna, but she was not in sight. She entered the portal nonetheless, and she found herself in front of golden square structures with faded scriptures, and were partially covered in vines. Another Abyss's Door came into view, and Eterna exited out of it. Vivi hugged Eterna, and banged her chest using her front legs.

She cried, "Why…why are you here? You could have gone to save them!"

Eterna explained with a smile while patting Vivi's leaf, "I did, Vivi. I have taken them into my vault, which was not an easy task as Dark Matter's was concentrating Its attacks on me. I had encompassed them in Shining Sphere of Empathy, before storing them in my vault, to heal them gradually. The other resident Pokemons that are unharmed are out of Dark Matter's range, and they are still bombarding It. It is still persistent in breaking the barrier to Worldcore, so let's promptly make our way into Guidance Ruins, shall we?"

Vivi wiped her tears and was relieved. She realised that Eterna had recovered her energy using Max Elixir when she stopped going offensive against Dark Matter. And coincidently, she managed to step into the scene to save the Pokémons right after Vivi had left the place. She then questioned Eterna of her plans:

"….Alright. How do you know how to get to here?"

"Hydreigon sent me a telepathic image of it. And she requested me of something as well."

"What is it?"

"Well…you will know it later."

They ventured into the ruins. In a short distance, they stumbled upon a golden round door with symbols on it. Eterna could read the symbols, but she did not translate to Vivi. Vivi observed Eterna snorted with a grin at the door before pushing the door outwards, and the duo entered the door into one of the most beautiful mystery dungeon they ever seen.

* * *

Another artwork! art/Zap-Cannon-606116049

Sorry for the wait~


	10. The Act of Kindness or Justice

**Chapter 10: The Act of Kindness or Justice**

The duo rode on Malleaglow Cloud Form and passed the moss-covered golden walls and some creeks, before encountering tough Pokémons in their final evolution form. That was what Vivi thought they were, until Eterna pushed them back using Psychic or Heat Wave. Eventually, they reached thirty-ninth floor, and encountered a Monster House in a huge room. Eterna snickered at the sight of the Pokémons glaring at them:

"I think this is a punishment for taking the easy route in this dungeon haha."

Vivi answered seriously instead, "Maybe, but now we need to defeat them! Why don't you try to use Heat Wave?"

"Nah. I have a better idea for this kind of situation."

Eterna used Purity Swirl. Vivi thought this move was to erase status infliction attacks, but once she saw the Pokémons became calm when the wave swept passed them, it became clear to her that the move could erase negative feelings within the Pokémons as well. She then enquired of her:

"This move of yours doesn't deal physical damage isn't it? By the way, when did you learn to use light attacks?"

"I borrowed it from someone and practiced with it, that's all. And yes, my light attacks can purify negativity, but my shape-shifting Malleaglow can deal physical hits."

"How about your Curse Power? Can you still use it?"

"I can, but currently I am using it to strengthen my light power. Don't be mistaken, the light does not purify me to death. It is 'comfortable' with my innate ability."

"And I thought light and darkness oppose each other…" puzzled Vivi, "By the way, did you recognise the symbols we had seen before we entered the dungeon?"

"Yes, but it is nothing important. So pay no heed to it, Vivi."

They drank their Max Elixir, before walking towards the stairs. Once they reached the last floor, they were astonished to be 'floating' above Earth. They also noticed a figure shaped like a Clefairy walking towards them. The bizarre thing was, that 'Clefairy' was comprised of galaxies as its body. Vivi was flabbergasted:

"Are…are we in space!?"

The Clefairy-shaped being answered, "Welcome, Vivi and Eterna, to my realm. This place is indeed, space, with some tweaks so that the both of you can breathe. I understand you want to ask me some questions, Vivi."

"Yes…"

"Tell me, and I shall answer."

"Why does Dark Matter exists?"

"Unlike the universe the both of you are from, this universe has magic that can defy death. And so, the existence of Dark Matter is crucial so as to maintain the balance of life and death. But I think you want to ask me is why Dark Matter depends on the negativity of the living. Feelings are fickle, and so does life and death, as they can be unpredictable. Therefore, negativity is the best food for It, and if there isn't much negativity, It will not appear."

Vivi criticised The Universe, "But isn't there aren't many planets that can host life? That creation of yours isn't balancing life and death in this universe."

"It does, as the conservation of atom distribution still applies."

"Huh?"

"Well, it is how I keep this universe together. Anyway, I am sure you know the answer to defeat Dark Matter, aren't you?"

"Such as overwhelming it with light?" replied Eterna.

"Yes, but there is another alternative. As It is consisted of _feelings_ as well, you can show It the way to salvation."

"And that is? You do know that it does not want to listen to our sweet talking?"

"Although I can't tell you how to do it, Vivi will know how to perform it, eventually, and you will continue from there."

Eterna protested at It for not revealing how exactly they were going to do it, but gave up halfway. She then chatted to Vivi, "Vivi, since we have our answers, and hints, we should get going before Dark Matter ended more lives."

"Alright, though I really want to know how to save It. Do I have to do what Grendon had done before? I am not entirely sure."

"Who knows? Well It stated we will do it, we shall do it."

As The Universe showed them to a swirling white portal to exit from that place. Eterna reasoned to It about the symbols she read.

" _Pass all the trials to meet The One That Is All._ So, how do you know how to use my symbols?"

"I learned it from you as I have something to inform you in secrecy. Do you want to see it?"

Eterna looked at Vivi, and then replied to It, "Sure. But be quick, I have other things to do."

It drew a symbol: a black round shape with the tip of a white triangle emerged out of it. It was portrayed as:

 _Expel the light within you as soon as possible. Light can erase your existence no matter how much you come in terms of it._

Eterna crossed her arms in amusement, "Hmmm, sounds interesting. I will keep that in mind."

The duo entered the portal. It led them to the entrance of the ruins. Right now, it was the break of dawn. Eterna summoned her vault, and released all the Pokémons that she had saved. Shuy, Maginvade, Sir Ampharos, and the rest, were bewildered of the scenery they were in.

"Where are we?" said Maginvade.

Eterna answered, "You are in Guidance Ruins. So…do you like my therapy?"

"Pretty soothing, but the 'wall' of the room is swirling purple and blackness. And there are many items floating around in there. Kind of messy, you know?"

She scratched her head in embarrassment and replied, "Haha, sorry about that."

Shuy said, "At least, we are fully recovered. But what is the situation with Dark Matter?"

Vivi responded, "It is on a killing spree I believe…"

"I see. If that is the case, the two of you should go back to where It is. We shall stay here. That is what you intend to do, Eterna?"

Eterna shook her head, "No. I just let all of you out for a breather. Actually, I decided to bring all of you back to where Dark Matter is. What can the battalion do without their leaders?"

Shuy was astounded by her words. It did make sense for them to stay by the resident Pokémons to stop them for going too far ahead of themselves just to protect the world.

"So…" asked Sir Ampharos, "What will you do when you get back there, Eterna?"

She answered without hesitation, "I will support Vivi in dealing with Dark Matter."

He smiled, "Well, we all are! Time to get back to the warzone, shall we?"

They went back using Abyss's Door. The scenery, lit by the rising of the Sun, revealed the barrier surrounding Worldcore was almost broken, and numerous Pokémon bodies were lying on the ground. But despite of that, those that were alive were trying their best to prevent Dark Matter from further destroying the barrier. Hydreigon was looking exhausted as her body was shaking due to fatigue in maintaining the barrier. Eterna was not fazed of the lying corpses, and took Vivi to Dark Matter. On the hand, Shuy and Maginvade instructed the resident Pokémons to stand down to let Vivi to negotiate with It.

"So," said Dark Matter, "What is the answer to my existence?"

Vivi explained, "You existed to help to balance the circle of life and death. And negativity is your energy source; depending on the abundance of it, you can either grow stronger, or not born at all. That's all."

"Oh? The answer is just as I thought it would be. Thank you for telling me, leafling. Now there is no need for me to hold back in my conquest."

"Wait! Don't you feel regret? Isn't regret is a negativity as well?"

"I do, yet all I feel are rage and despair."

"I don't understand. Why are you feeling so much hatred?"

"That," It paused for a while, "Was what the livings felt in that planet I had destroyed. They despised themselves for causing their planet to be almost inhabitable due to their greed. And so, what I did was what they wished to be, to die with their homeworld."

Vivi reasoned with It, "But we are not like them! We didn't harm our world at all! So why must you punish us?"

"I just do what I need to do. Alright, that is enough talking. It's time to finish what I have started."

Dark Matter finally broke the barrier. Hydreigon was pushed back by the shattering of the shield, but she recovered quickly in mid-flight and clung onto Dark Matter.

"As my duty of being The Spirt of Life, I will not let you enter here!"

It smirked, "I would love to see you try."

It tried to grab hold on Hydreigon, but she could vanish and materialised at will. Dark Matter was agitated, and was flinging Its tentacles to shake her away instead. Seeing this as an opportunity, Vivi shouted at Dark Matter:

"Stab me, Dark Matter!"

It was astonished, "What!?"

"I want you to understand what I truly feel about you."

"This…is not I intended to hear from you. Well, I shall take your offer then!"

It extended one of Its tentacles towards her. Eterna instinctively shoved her away, and let herself being stabbed in the abdominal instead. Everyone, excluding Dark Matter, gasped of the sight of her bravery.

"Eterna!" shocked Vivi.

Eterna "You…gave me an idea, Vivi. Give me your vine."

She did as she was told. All of a sudden, she felt that something was taken out of her, but she could not fathom what it was. She observed Dark Matter stopped moving and was silent for a while, until It decided to speak:

"I see…Even after going through so many obstacles in your life, your heart remains pure. And I sense something in that vixen; something I cannot have, and something I cannot achieve. Ah…what am I feeling now? It is warm…"

Vivi responded, "It is called forgiving, Dark Matter. I do not hate you; I forgive you for who you are."

Eterna commented while resisting the pain, "Well, I don't forgive…you what you had did before, but once I heard your story, I understand…why you are born in this way. As I, a being…not created by Light, I had shared my thoughts and feelings of my life to you. In a way, we have gone through a lot, aren't we?"

Dark Matter was staggering in his reply, "I have bear so many ill wishes in my body. But, as an incomplete being that could even feel…happiness; that…will not…stop me from destroying your planet."

All of a sudden, a dazzling light poured out of It. Hydreigon instantly knew what where the light came from. She explained, "It is from The Tree of Life. Even though The Tree of Life is…reacting to your positive feelings; unfortunately for you, Dark Matter, the Pokémons need it back."

Eterna wasted no time and used Hurrisurge of Liberation: a gust of light attack that consumed darkness to power itself till there was nothing left. The light started by purifying the tentacle that pierced Eterna, and later to other parts of Dark Matter's body to reach The Tree of Life, causing It to be in excruciating pain. Eventually, The Tree of Life's roots came out of Its wound. The Pokémons ran away quickly as the rainbow tree gradually came out and landed on the ground with a loud thud, and a small quake. Another small item came out of Its wound as well. It was shaped as a sphere of swirling different spectrum of blue aura. Vivi picked it up using her leaf and said:

"Is this…"

Dark Matter's body had shrunk till about a size of a small waddling pool due to the loss of the cores. It answered in difficulty, "It is The Core of Life of the planet I had destroyed. Now…since I have been defeated, it is your call to end me."

Vivi was in a dilemma. She had saved It, but to end It, isn't her effort would be wasted? She lowered her head in distressed. Shuy and Maginvade approached her, and patted on her back.

Maginvade said, "It has to be done, Vivi. For the Pokémons' future sake."

Shuy agreed, "Yeah. You can't disregard the lives that were perished due to It! If It died, that will bring closure to the Pokémons that had lost their love ones."

The other Pokémons agreed that Dark Matter must be annihilated.

Vivi nodded, "I…understand. Eterna, if you will…"

Eterna acknowledged, "Alright."

She increased the speed of Hurrisurge of Liberation to purify Dark Matter's entire body, until there was nothing left. However, she heard a faint voice in the wind, so does the other Pokémons. It said:

"More of me will come here in the future, and may have different tactics on wiping planets that host life. But I believe all of you can stop them from doing so; as all they need is someone to listen to their cries. As long they have been heard and forgiven, they can be truly be gone for good after their destruction. That is all I have to say. I shall bid you all farewell."

Its final word echoed till it ceased. Vivi then looked at The Core of Life of the deceased planet she was still holding using her leaf, and muttered to herself:

"At least, we have this core. But what can I do about it?"

Eterna peered at it while healing her wound using Umbrae Mend, and spoke what was on her mind:

"I think, there is a way to restore the planet, or maybe, bring the resident Pokémons back from the dead."

Someone, who sounded familiar to them, said, "I can do that; to repay for their bravery to save our world."

The Pokémons turned around to find that Xerneas had appeared beside The Tree of Life.

"Xerneas!" cried Vivi, "You are alright!"

"Not exactly as most of the energy in The Tree of Life's core was drained by Dark Matter. At least, I can still revive the Pokémons."

She lit up her horns in colours of a rainbow and screeched, and pounding her hooves on the ground. In a blink of an eye, The Tree of Life shone brightly in golden colour, and dispersed its light into shapes of glittering leaves. Each of the leaves fell onto the resident Pokémon corpses. The light from the leaves spread all over the bodies, and soon the Pokémons got up, looking bewildered. Their close ones hugged them in joy, and thanked Xerneas for her help. She bowed, and smiled at them in return.

Xerneas looked at The Tree of Life and sighed, "Now, is there a way to transfer this tree back to where it belongs?"

"Not even I can do this. I cannot summon an Abyss's Door that big." admitted Eterna.

Hydreigon reassured Xerneas, "Not to worry. I can request Hoopa to help you. He is an expert in creating dimensional portals after all."

Maginvade responded, "Oh? Hoopa is a male in this world? Interesting. I hope he is not a jerk."

"Unfortunately, he is." laughed Hydreigon.

"At least he is not an overpowering figure that wiped out a continent as what Eterna had told us about…" said Vivi. "So, about The Core of Life I have retrieved, can we do anything about it?"

"It is best to be placed in whence it came from. Having two cores in this planet will spell more trouble for us. Deoxys can assist us in this matter. He can survive in space after all. And also, would it be possible he can borrow one of your teammate's Wind Looplet? Just in case if he encountered Dark Matter."

"But, does he knows where the place is?"

"The Core of Life can show him the way."

"Well, okay. I shall pass to you my Wind Looplet. You can let him have it then."

Vivi passed The Core of Life and her Wind Looplet to her. Hydreigon nodded in return and said:

"That settles it, I shall contact him now."

As Hydreigon was using telepathy to summon Deoxys, Xerneas thanked Vivi and her friends for saving the world.

She continued, "We couldn't done it without you. For this, you have my gratitude; so does the Pokémons here. I have another request though. Can you return my energy I entrusted to you?"

"Yes. I shall find it and return to you soon. But where should we meet up?"

"Where the tree originally stood. I am sure that once you have found it, the tree will be back in that island."

Eterna then stood in and said, "You can have my light energy if you want, Xerneas."

Xerneas refused, "That belongs to Arceus isn't it? You should return it to Him if you are done using it. By the way, Eterna, I am astounded that you can use light energy with grace to defeat Dark Matter. You are really exceptional."

"Haha, you think so? Well, maybe I should keep it for the time being; I might need it in some situations. Alright, I guess we have better get going. See you, Xerneas."

The resident Pokémons thanked the team too. They also offer gifts, but Vivi declined to receive them. The team decided to head back to Serene Village to meet Grendon. They waved goodbye to their comrades, and entered Eterna's portal, with Sir Ampharos tagging along as it would be easier for him to travel to Lively Town from there.


	11. Knowing the Truth

**Chapter 11: Knowing the Truth**

Nothing had changed in Serene Village. It was peaceful, and the village folks were chatting merrily; especially about the courageous Pokémons that saved the world from Dark Matter from space. As the group entered the entrance of the settlement, the Pokémons noticed them and turned their attention to them; chanting of their success. Maginvade liked their praises, but Vivi, Shuy and Eterna just smile and nodded, before heading their way to Uncle Carracosta's house. As for Sir Ampharos, he embarked on a journey to Lively Town. This time, he would not wander everywhere, thanks to the aid of X-Ray Specs. His words to the heroines before his departure was:

"I shall await for your return to The Pokémon Expedition Society. Even though we have saved the world, we still have Pokémons to rescue. Well, that is how it is. And I must admit, Vivi, you are a fine leader to your team. I am proud to be under you for that mission! Though sometimes, you need to stand firm against Eterna in your decisions. Alright, I shall be seeing you!"

Vivi acknowledged, "Yeah, I know. See you soon, sir."

Upon the heroines' arrival, Uncle Carracosta came out of his blue armour dome-shaped house as he heard the commotion outside. He looked the team, and hugged them in joy. As for the crowd, they dispersed so that their reunion would not be interrupted.

He said, "Oh! The four of you are back! And safe! Some Psychic reporters that spread the news about all of your achievements. Oh…I can't help but to express my gratitude for saving us! Give me a moment, I will make some hearty soup for our celebration!"

Vivi struggled while he was still hugging the team and commented, "Umm…Uncle Carracosta? Can you…release us?"

"Oh! My apologies, Vivi. Ah yes, while I make the soup in my kitchen, you can find Grendon under The Tree of Friendship. I heard he wanted to take a nap there; what a lazy bum! Though, I can't call him that anymore because he had done lots to save this world as well."

Vivi giggled, "He is still lazy to me! Alright, we shall meet him soon."

The team walked up the hill to the special tree. Under the tree, they observed Grendon snoozing away in a crouch position. Vivi sneaked closer to him and let out a loud yup. Grendon was spooked and quickly backed away. But once he realised it was Vivi who teased him, he let out a sigh:

"Seriously, Vivi! Stop doing that to me."

Vivi replied, "Well, that is the only way to wake you up."

"Hmm…I know I am a deep sleeper, but what you had done could cause me a heart attack! Anyway, I know the world is at peace now thanks to you and your friend's efforts. And, you want to retrieve Xerneas's energy back, am I right?"

"Yes. Do you know where you hide it?"

He dug the ground and took out the light ball.

"There you go." he said.

Vivi received the light ball and deposited in her sling bag. She cheered, "Great! Now we have to return this to Xerneas."

"Maybe not as we have a celebration to attend now." reminded Maginvade.

Grendon was surprised, "Oh? Gramps is making us lunch? Haha! That is so like him. I guess returning the energy back to her has to wait, Vivi."

"Can I ask you a question, Grendon?" said Eterna.

"Sure."

"How is Dark Matter doing inside you?"

"Umm…It became an emotion, a part of me. It is not Dark Matter anymore."

"I see. So you do not feel any uneasiness, aren't you?"

"Not at all."

Eterna folded her arms and replied, "Hmm. So when It is accepted, It becomes an emotion huh? Maybe we could have done differently to Dark Matter from space..."

"It may not work against It if It has too many negativities. Besides, I am sure It is resting in peace now. But may I ask why are you asking me this question?"

"Well…in the future, I might…" then she coughed, "Uh hmm! I guess I have to return what is not mine to Him now. It doesn't cause me pain, but…I will be right back."

She warped away using Abyss's Door. The rest were left bewildered of her abrupt dismissal.

"What makes her so anxious?" asked Vivi.

Grendon answered, "I am not sure as well. Ah yes, Vivi. Do you have anything else to ask me?"

"Yes. Do you…have any memories of my past? I been thinking, maybe you didn't erase my memories. You have been keeping them safe, right?"

Grendon looked at the sky and responded, "I am prepared that you will one day request me of this. Yes, I have your memories. But I need to ask of you, do you really want to gain them back? You were willing to have your memories wiped by me at that time."

Vivi asked him uneasily, "Are they…really bad memories that you have to warn me about?"

"No, but there are some memories that you do not wish to know about it."

"Uh…"

"Vivi," said Shuy, "Now it is a good time to know who you are truly are. And, we are here by your side if you ever need some consolation."

Maginvade continued, "All I can say is, go for it!"

Vivi agreed to their suggestions, "Alright. I want to have my memories return to me, Grendon."

Grendon nodded in submission, "Okay. Give me your foot."

Vivi put her left foot on his right foot. Before Grendon started the process, the sky went black for a few seconds, before returning back to normal. The group was started by the abnormality. What was even more astonishing; Eterna returned back to them in her Oppressive Obliteration Form. She grabbed Vivi's left paw away from Grendon and spoke:

"You might _not_ want to remember everything of your past in one go, Vivi."

"You are in your other form? What happened?" bewildered Vivi.

"I won against Arceus, so that means I won the bet. The bet was to reveal why you wish to forget your past."

"Is that the reason why you left so suddenly?"

"No. I just needed to return his light back to him, and requested for a battle. Since there is a bet involve; if I lose, I will have my power sealed again. As if I would let him do that, heh."

"You are very motivated to battle him, aren't you? Anyway, I think…it is best that I get back all of my memories so as to leave out any uncertainties." commented Vivi.

"I understand. Here it goes."

Memories flew into her head in such a speed that she felt queasy. She fainted onto Eterna's arms after Grendon had given all of them to her. Eterna then sneered at Grendon:

"Oh goody, now she knows the truth about you and your relations with Arceus."

Grendon admitted, "I can't deny that…but that also means she will realise the efforts I did to protect her…"

"Hope that she won't strangle you later. Ah yes, do you want to know my battle against Arceus? Usually, He controlled time and space to defeat me, but not anymore as I finally used a move to stop the irregularity of time and space, known as Disparity Nullification. With his trump card out of the way, I performed Mania Dance to injure him till He could not retaliate anymore."

Shuy replied, "That explains the darkened skies before. He was weakened to the point he could not maintain his world for a while."

Eterna laughed, "I knocked Him off real good, huh? Anyway, how long does Vivi intend to sleep?"

"Hmm, I am not sure whether Vivi will wake up before the celebration." worried Maginvade.

"If you want, I can shock her into waking up." suggested Eterna.

Grendon objected, "By using your Curse Power? I won't allow it."

Eterna grinned, "Heh, alright then. If that is the case, my job is done. Should I try to power down? Or…" she noticed something from afar and continued speaking, "Hmm…is that a dead tree with a door at its base? What is that place?"

He answered, "It is where the disappearance pranks began. Now, the Litwicks and Solosis decided to stay there and aren't disturbing us anymore."

"Hmmm. I shall _play_ with them a little then. Here Grendon, I shall leave Vivi in your care."

She handled Vivi to Grendon before she flew using levitation to that location. And once she entered the door, she enclosed the area using her Shadowable Barrier Form. Grendon was worried of what she might do to them.

Maginvade assured him, "Don't worry, Eterna loves to play pranks as well; just that there is no room for the players to escape."

"All I could think was that she will be using fear to scare all those poor residents." said Shuy.

Grendon agreed, "I might have a way to stop her. But right now, we can't bypass her barrier, so…we just do something else then. Why don't we rest in my gramp's house?"

"Oh yes. My stomach is rumbling." moaned Shuy.

Maginvade replied, "Vivi deserves to rest on a good bed for all the things she had done for us. Let's go then."

As the threesome carrying Vivi to Uncle Carracosta's house. Vivi was in a dreamworld of memories. Right now, at sunrise, she was looking at Ancient Mew on top of Temporal Tower. He spoke:

" _I am sorry, Vivi._ "

" _What for?_ " her voice resounded.

" _For making you do so many saving the world stuffs. Vivi._ "

" _It is no big deal. My homeworld is gone, so right now I am doing is repaying the debt that Arceus had done to saved me._ "

" _About that…do you think it is abnormal for a big asteroid to crash onto your planet?_ "

" _It is a little strange, yeah._ "

" _Indeed. That is a hoax. Arceus and I had discussed on how to make you keen on helping us. We decided by telling you that your homeworld is gone, there is no other option for you to go back to your world._ "

" _WHAT!? Why…why must you lie to me?_ "

" _We…I…are desperate. You see, we Pokémons might have magical powers, but we are lacking in determination. Once we learned about the existence of humans in other universes, we decided to summon some of them here to help us. Currently, you are the best of them. You never faint in battle, yet you guarantee your teammate's safety. You care more for others than yourself. That is why we want you to stay here…with us._ "

" _Mew…Still, it is better if you just tell me of your motives in the first place. I never lie to you, yet you…That's it, I want to go home now._ "

" _But…_ "

" _No buts! I want to know how my family is going along. I have been away for too long. I am sure they are worried sick about me._ "

Ancient Mew lowered his head and responded, " _I…understand. I shall create a portal for you to return back to your family._ "

" _Good. I have another request. Don't you EVER summon me back here._ "

" _Vivi…is my apology not good enough for you?_ " he plead.

Vivi's memory self replied in anger, " _No, I have enough. Now, do it!_ "

Ancient Mew opened the portal. Once Vivi's memory self entered and exited from it, she was devastated. Her house was empty. The sunlight revealed blue police tapes cornering off the living room, and there were dried blood patches on the ground. Her family, had committed suicide. She was in human form, and she kneeled down and was distraught of the scene. She wondered why they had done it, till Vivi in her memory spotted a note on the small rectangular brown desk. She peered at it; her family had written something. It stated:

 _Dear Vivi, we missed you so much. Where have you been? We had made a police report, but they can't find you for five months. We hope that you are somewhere on this planet, and will come back to us one day. But unfortunately, we have cannot handle the fact that maybe, you were already in the Afterworld. We agreed to die together to meet you there. But if you are alive, and somehow reading this letter, we apologise that we have left you. You are always our precious baby girl, and we will support you wherever you go._

 _Love, Daddy, Mummy and Bro_

Another paragraph was added. This time it was her brother. She read it:

 _Yo. I think you are alive somewhere in another world that I cannot reached. I believe you are in a world that you have been fantasising about: creatures of magical powers and living among side humans, and sometimes, battle to claim victory in gym battles and The League. I want to be with you. I know suicide won't bring me there with you, but you see, I can't live my life without you. You were always there for me when I was down, and advised me whenever I had done wrong. Nobody else is as great and compassionate as you, my dear sister. So…I am sorry if I had gone before you. However please, don't die because we did. I know you are a toughie, and I am sure someone needs your help direly. Just help them in need, and make more good friends. I don't want you to keep remembering about our silly deaths. By the way, I played finished your Mystery Dungeon game. The story was good; it made me emotional. No wonder you like to play this! Okay, this is me signing off!_

 _Your awesome brother_

Vivi's memory self put the letter in her pocket, and went up to her room. There, her room was tidied, and not a speck of dust in sight. She saw her handheld console placed neatly on her wooden study table. She turned it on, and started playing her Mystery Dungeon game. She noticed her party creatures' name were different. It was typed as:

 _I hope you_

 _continue to_

 _cheer some1_

 _from now on_

" _I will. I will do my best, and make you all proud_." her memory self said so.

Soon, Vivi heard some raffling noises. Her memory self turned around, and was surprised to see Ancient Mew floating in front of her. He hugged her, and comforted her:

" _I did not know this had happened…I can't say how many faults I had done to hurt you. But you are really needed in my world, Vivi. What can I do to repay you?_ "

Vivi found herself looking up at the ceiling, and her memory self replied, " _For now…let me cry in peace._ "

Her flashback ended. When Vivi woke up, she found herself surrounded by Grendon, Shuy and Maginvade, looking at her anxiously in Grendon's room. She was slightly startled of how close they were staring at her, and her friends jerked back as well by her waking up.

"How…long did I passed out." she asked while shaking her head.

"Not long. Gramps is still cooking the soup." answered Grendon, "How do you feel, Vivi?"

Vivi stared at Grendon and requested of him, "Grendon, we have _lots_ to talk about, later."

He acknowledged grimly.

She continued, "So, where is Eterna?"

"Well…she is in that dead greyish tree...house?" replied Maginvade.

"There is no way we can enter that barrier of hers." said Shuy.

"I shall get her back here, it shouldn't take long."

Vivi informed Uncle Carracosta that she was going to bring her friend back, before heading towards the dead tree. Grendon, Shuy and Maginvade decided to stay behind as they understood Vivi wanted to speak to Eterna alone. They sat down and shared their adventures together. Shuy and Maginvade listened attentively to his story, and nodded in appreciation that he revealed his conversation with Vivi after she had learned the truth about being used of; despite the guilt that Grendon was feeling.

* * *

Artwork time!  
art/Hug-619060969


	12. Reckless Intention

**Chapter 12: Reckless Intention**

Vivi headed towards the dead tree surrounded by a black barrier, and she spotted Espurr, Pancham and Shelmet discussing about the appearance of it.

"…There is no way that The True Lord of Darkness in there!" protested Pancham.

"Yeah! It must be an illusion created by Solosis." responded Shelmet.

Espurr argued, "My psionic power doesn't lie. I can sense a monstrous being in there; more fearsome than Dark Matter!"

Vivi approached to them and replied, "I think you are talking about my friend."

"Your friend?" baffled Pancham.

"Yeah. She…umm…is what Espurr had mentioned. Anyway, I need to get her out of there." She shouted at the barrier, "Eterna! What are you doing? Leave the poor Pokémons alone!"

A reply echoed. It was from Eterna:

"Oh? You are awake? Fine, I shall deactivate my barrier. You and your schoolmates can come in."

The barrier vanished in a blink of an eye. Pancham and Shelmet were cautious of her invitation, but Espurr seemed calm. The group climbed down the stone stairs to the hall. They noticed a huge shadowy winged creature looming in the background. And once it moved out of the shadow, the group was surprised to see Giratina in his Altered Forme flying above them.

He bellowed, "Who dares to enter my domain?"

"Giratina? I thought he is fake?" said Pancham.

"Yeah! You can't fool us, Solosis!" continued Shelmet.

Giratina growled, "I AM REAL!"

The legendary Pokémon flapped his wings to create Ominous Wind. The purple wind swept passed the group, and they were feeling cold. As the group was numbed from the move, Giratina flipped his tail and knocked them off onto the stone wall. Vivi, who was struggling to get back up after sliding down the wall, was the first to speak:

"This….this is not an illusion at all!"

Espurr responded calmly, "Well, it is an illusion. Isn't it, Eterna?

Eterna's voice resounded, "You are the only one that can't be fooled, _Espurr_. Okay Solosis, Litwicks, the acting is done!"

Solosis ended his illusion, and Litwicks cancelled out their unique Ominous Wind taught by Eterna. Then the vixen, who was still in Oppressive Obliteration Form, appeared by levitating down the ceiling. Vivi, Pancham, Shelmet and Espurr got back onto their feet and approached her.

Vivi commented, "If this is an illusion, there shouldn't be any physical hit."

Espurr explained, "You were being hit by Eterna's shadowy attack. By the way Eterna, how rude of you to intrude my mind using telepathy to find out my name."

Eterna answered, "Espurr, you already know the trick of the illusion when you had seen the fake Giratina. So treat this as a way of fair trade, will you?"

Espurr was impressed, "Hmm…I kind of like your mischievous ways."

Eterna laughed, "We might be good friends huh? Haha!"

Then Vivi interrupted their conversation, "Eterna, may I speak to you in private?"

"Sure. Spare me some time to say some final advices to Solosis and Litwicks."

She whispered to Solosis and Litwicks. They chuckled and thanked her, before heading to their resting areas. In the meantime, Espurr pushed the reluctant Pancham and Shelmet out of the way so that Vivi could chat to Eterna without interference. Vivi started the conversation:

"So...yes, I gained back all of my memories."

"Good to know. By the way Vivi, if you are asking for my sympathy, I am not the type of person you should be talking to now."

"I know, but just hear me out. I realised I had been lied to MANY times in my life. But yet, I still went together with them after I knew why they had done so. They did these to make me stay with them for they needed my help. Do you think it is the right way for me to do?"

"Well, are you expecting to feel angry of being used? But what the heck, anyone feels good of being needed, aren't you? So don't think about it and do what you can to help them."

"Eterna…"

"Heh. If people treated me this way, they will be dealt with, hehe! So, are you regretting that you have all your memories back?"

"No. Actually, I am relieved that I feel whole again. And, I am passed the stage of grieve over my family. I am sure they are doing well up there. Eterna, why do you need know the truth of your past self?"

"It is to understand the origins of my power, and how I become so _distorted_ to have two different personalities. You know, in a recent past, I had no care about the world. I did whatever I want. But once I made some friends, I began to change. I have becoming more restrictive of using my power. However, given some circumstances, I will use all my power in what I deemed appropriate." Eterna paused for a while, then she continued, "Do you want to go back to Carracosta's house now? Or you have something else to say to me?"

"Nothing for now."

"Okay, time to party huh?"

Vivi and Eterna walked towards the stair. Espurr, Pancham and Shelmet followed suit, and Pancham shouted at Eterna:

"Hey Eterna, how scary are you?"

Eterna threw an Inundation Flames at Pancham. The flames circled around him, causing him to feel sick from the negativity. Eterna then cancelled her move, and sneered at him:

"I could scar you for life, _eternally_."

"Poi…point taken." he replied while shaking in fear. He then turned to Shelmet and said, "Dude, she is someone that shouldn't mess with."

"I agree! But you had really gone too far to prompt her to show her strength to you." Shelmet criticised him.

"Oh? For the first time, you dare to question my intention?"

"Umm...Even though I am protected in a shell, I can't be timid forever, you know? Sometimes, I really want to stop you from bullying other kids…"

"Shelmet."

"Yes?"

"You are not my friend anymore."

"But Pancham!"

Espurr used her Psychic to levitate Pancham and Shelmet and said, "That's it, you boys can argue in another place. Sorry, but I shall make my move first, Vivi and Eterna. Byes."

She walked up the stairs and smiled at Vivi and Eterna, while still using Psychic on the two. She also send a telepathy message to Eterna that it was nice to see her, and hopefully they could go out for an adventure sometimes. Eterna replied back to her mind; stating that probably one day they could do it together when she could visit this world again. With Espurr leading a distance away from Vivi and Eterna, the vixen sniggered at the sight of Pancham with his face down and admitting he were wrong. As the two heroines left the dead tree, and walked towards Grendon's home, Vivi nudged Eterna a little and spoke to her softly:

"Eterna, thank you for supporting and protecting me."

She laughed sinisterly, "No problem. But maybe you should not trust me entirely in my current state; I might strangle you one day, haha!"

Before the duo reached the house, they could smell the aroma of Apples, Figy Berries, and Aguav Berries. As they entered the building, they spotted Shuy helping herself to a wooden bowl of fruit soup, while Uncle Carracosta, Grendon and Maginvade were waiting for them.

"I am too hungry to wait for the two of you." Shuy stated her excuse.

"Well, her stomach was rumbling so loud, so I might as well gave her a bowl of my signature soup!" said Uncle Carracosta. "Anyway, the both of you, let's dig in! I hope you like the taste!"

There was a mixed response from drinking the soup. Grendon was savouring the soup, but Vivi and Maginvade were panting from the Figy Berries' spiciness. Even Eterna could not take it, and she spat back into the bowl. Carracosta questioned her:

"Is the soup too spicy to you?"

"The soup is nice, but I can't swallow it. I do not have high tolerance to spicy things."

"Oh. Sorry for not asking for your preference of the soup you want to have…"

"Is no big. Thank you for the meal, Uncle Carracosta."

"Eterna, you are _awfully_ considerate towards him." whispered Maginvade.

"I _do_ know when to be courteous, Maginvade. Anyway, I shall head to the lounge."

After she sat down on the leafy bed, she took out three Apples from her sling bag, put them on her lap, and began to munch one of them. After the group chatted merrily and finished their soup, Grendon allowed the girls to rest in his room. Shuy was the first to snooze away, followed by Maginvade. On the other hand, Eterna did not need to rest as her abundance of her power kept her vigilant. She sat with Uncle Carracosta and discussed about random topics. As for Vivi, she and Grendon made their way to the kitchen to talk about her memories.

She spoke, "I had lost my family, and with no one to go to in that world, I decided to stay in the Pokémon World, and requested you to take my memories. I say…it wasn't so bad to have my memories back."

Grendon replied, "I hope you understand why I lied to you…Besides saving the world, I don't wish to see you go."

"I know. That is why you cared for me so much. Even though I still will not forgive you for what you had done, I must thank you for looking out for me."

Grendon stroke his right leg on the ground and said while looking down, "Vivi, I wish I can do more for you to repay for what I have done."

She smiled, "You already repaid me; by having more friends by our sides. Now we truly not a lonely bunch anymore, isn't it?"

He looked up and sighed a relief that Vivi did not demand more of him, "Ha, you are right."

"So, since the world is saved once more, I guess it is time for Eterna, Shuy and Maginvade to leave? Truthfully speaking, I don't wish to see them go. Now I know what is like to feel to seeing them off. It must be hard on you, Grendon."

"For me, being a legendary housing all the genes of Pokémons, but not born naturally, can be lonely. That is why, I love your company, Vivi. You are like a sister to me."

Vivi shrugged, "Haha, we do need each other huh?"

Grendon grinned slightly, "Looks like it, yup. And yes, I can request Hydreigon to send the girls back, when they are ready to go, that is."

"I will talk to them later. For now, I have to return the light back to Xerneas. I shall request Eterna about this."

"Sounds good. See you back here later."

Vivi conversed with Eterna about that matter, and together, they said their goodbyes to Uncle Carracosta and Grendon, before leaving the house via Abyss's Door. They arrived at the island where The Tree of Life supposed to be standing. Luckily, it was back on the same spot, and Xerneas and Hydreigon were waiting for them. Xerneas greeted them:

"Welcome back to my homeland, Vivi and Eterna. I guess you have my ball of energy?"

Vivi returned her energy back to her. Xerneas's horns began to shine brightly in rainbow colours as she was back to her top form.

Xerneas continued, "Thank you for safeguarding our last hope to sustain the planet. Even though the four of you do not want to accept my gift, I suppose giving you a Harmony Scarf as a replacement for Wind Looplet should suffice for you, Vivi?"

Vivi obliged, "I guess I can take that, just in case there is another world saving adventure in the future."

She took the Harmony Scarf crafted instantaneously by Xerneas, and wrapped around her neck.

Eterna said, "Well then, I guess our mission is done? I am ready to return back to my homeworld, or maybe after I powered down? I would be a global threat in this form, hehe."

Xerneas offered her help, "I could forcefully remove most of your dark powers. That method should help you return back to normal."

Hydreigon suddenly spouted, "Wait a minute, something is not right."

"What is wrong?"

"I heard screams…all around me. I will need to investigate."

The Spirit of Life vanished for a while, and she reappeared again. She told them the bad news frantically:

"The Pokémons…they are turning evil!"

"They are what!?" exclaimed Vivi.

"It was like the same scenario for your friend, Nuzleaf. Their hearts were overtaken by Dark Matter. But isn't It was thoroughly defeated?"

Eterna theorised, "It might be before It engaged us in battle, It sowed Its seeds into the Pokemons' heart. It created an 'assurance'; just in case It was defeated in battle. And, I guess that Dark Matter forgot to retract his move before It disappeared, or It intended to do it? Intriguing…"

"How many Pokémons are affected right now, Hydreigon?" asked Vivi.

"Too many to count, and the negativity infection started from Gooey Bog and rapidly spreading towards Frozen Falls in Mist Continent."

"Hmm…I can try to remove the threat using my Curse Power this time."

"Isn't your power is useless against darkness?"

"There is another way, but it must be done in solo."

Vivi was concerned, "Eterna, what _exactly_ are you going to do?"

Eterna passed her sling bag to Vivi and replied, "I shall let you have my personal stuffs. You can read my diary if you want. Alright, byes."

She levitated towards the sky, before using Abyss's Door so that Vivi would not able to stop her. Now Vivi was left alone with Xerneas and Hydreigon. Xerneas dipped her head and spoke to Vivi calmly:

"I am sure there is a reason for Eterna to pass the diary to you. Go on and read the contents."

Vivi opened Eterna's sling bag, and took out the diary using her vines. She read the index, and flipped till the last page of the book. She read the words, and was astonished. She did not think that she would have to do _that_. But now, she had to return to Serene Village. Hydreigon helped Vivi to warp to the village, and later, The Spirit of Life decided to keep track of Eterna, so she vanished. Vivi put the diary back into Eterna's sling bag, and informed her friends about the threat.

* * *

"Oh! This is a spectacular scenery."

Eterna was gazing at the possessed Pokémons in the forest; bumping on others to spread the infection. The unaffected Pokémons tried to flee, but they were easily cornered by those nasties. A possessed Beartic even wanted to approach her, but he backed off once she was shrouded in her Inundation Flames.

He questioned her, "Who are you? You…are different from us."

She manipulated her flames to extend and stabbed him. She replied slyly, "Of course, and it is time to clean this mess up."

Although Beartic was stabbed, there was no wound. Instead, the flames sucked the negativity infection, and he was back to normal, but confused.

"Huh, what? I can't remember what I did…" he said.

"Well ice bear, stay at where you are right now. You won't want to catch those _virus_ , aren't you?"

Beartic nodded and stood still, while Eterna spreading her flames even further to pierce and absorbed more negativity out of the Pokémons. Soon, the trees surrounded her were covered in black flames, but they were not burning as her Inundation Flames only caused uncomfortable sensation.

After her flames had travelled almost two kilometres away from her, Hydreigon appeared besides her. She first looked at the darkish flames, and then she warned her:

"Eterna, this is a risk for you if you keep doing this!"

"Oh please, this is nothing. And, you can't do anything to stop the infection anyway."

Hydreigon shook her head and answered back, "Light can purify it, as what you had done before. But what you are doing is…"

Eterna was irritated, "Stop your nagging. Right now, my inextinguishable flames are preventing those runts from endangering the residents in Frozen Falls. You should be with Vivi instead."

"She is safe in Serene Village. Right now, my priority is to check the situation here."

"As you can see, it _is_ under control."

She emitted a strong dark aura to hasten the speed of expanding her Inundation Flames. Although Eterna was using a lot of power, she was still going strong. Hydreigon was worried about Eterna's reckless strategy, but there was no one as strong as her to end the threat. She had only one choice now; to bring Eterna's friends to stop her. The Spirit of Life then disappeared; allowing Eterna to continue her plan without interruption.

"Heh," she muttered to herself, "If Vivi sees me later, what will she do?"

* * *

Hydreigon conversed to Vivi, Grendon, Shuy and Maginvade, "We have to go now, Eterna needs your help!"

Shuy responded, "We all know about it. Now we need to get there as soon as possible."

"I shall be your aid."

Hydreigon hugged the group, and took them to where Eterna was. Strangely, Eterna just stood there and said:

"I have removed the negativity from the Pokémons. Dark Matter's remnants are no more."

Vivi replied, "That's great! But are you feeling okay, Eterna?"

"I…cannot resist much longer now. Vivi…I am sorry. I hope you know how to do _it_."

Eterna screamed. Her Curse Power shrouded her, and her form began to change. She became humongous, grew flaming wings, and had long bushy tail. Her snout grew longer and her limbs began to look reptile-like. Her body colour turned into dark black, and once her transformation was completed, she shrieked and wrecked some trees to instill fear into her friends; but now she deemed them as enemies.

"Eterna! What's wrong with you?" shouted Maginvade.

Eterna shot out a huge black flame at the group. Maginvade quickly use All-Protect Orb to shield the attack. The attack bounced off to the surroundings, and this time, the flames burned anything till the ground became bare. Vivi told her friends of Eterna's condition:

"She…has regressed to her dragon form…her past self in full of rage. In her diary, she stated if she has absorbed too many dark or negative energy, she will able to achieve her final form; with the cost of her sanity."

"I…knew it. But I do not have the strength to stop her." said Hydreigon as she felt guilty about it.

"I know...a solution."

"You do? Then tell us how to stop her!"

She took out a white orb using her vines and clenched it tightly. She muttered:

"I hope Pixie's power is enough to do the job."

* * *

I actually did this chapter together with Chapter 11, that is why I posted this quickly. As usual, another art!

art/HorrorInProgress-619721170


	13. Final Chapter

**Final Chapter: Let's Meet Together One Day**

"This orb…what does it do?" questioned Grendon.

"Her diary stated that it could remove Eterna's Curse Power. That means, she won't be able to use her ability anymore. It seems that she has wished for that to happen…" replied Vivi.

"If that is the case, we should do it now."

"I can send you to close to her to toss the orb." suggested Hydreigon.

As Hydreigon held Vivi, Shuy halted her, "Wait a second, let me check the orb."

Shuy touched the orb and soon enough, her Dimensional Scream activated. She saw a scene of tranquillity; green patches of grass and flowers around her, clear blue skies above. There she believed she was looking at Eterna in her human self. She had black skin, and short curly hair, wearing a white non-pattern dress. She knelt down and stroke the white turnip's petals and sigh:

" _This is my second time to be here. Ah, maybe next time, I will be a normal living being huh?_ "

The scene ended. By the time she realised, Hydreigon had already carried Vivi into the air. She shouted:

"Wait! Don't do it!"

But her voice could not reached them. Maginvade and Grendon noticed Shuy began to shred some tears.

"What did you see?" asked Maginvade worriedly.

Shuy ignored her and sprinted out of the protective barrier. Maginvade and Grendon tried to stop her, but Eterna shot another black flame at Hydreigon, which she missed, and the attack hit on the barrier again, causing it to shatter. Shuy managed to dodge the black fire as well, and shot her Energy Ball into the sky, hoping that Vivi and Hydreigon would spotted it, but again to no avail.

Hydreigon managed to fly close to Eterna, and told her:

"Do it now!"

Vivi tossed the white orb at Eterna. Eterna used her wings to blow the orb away. It seemed that she knew that the orb was a threat. She then charged up her strongest attack. Her body began to emit dark aura, and the sky blackened and numerous black liquids oozing down from the sky.

Shuy took the chance to grab the white orb. She got it, and Hydreigon came in a sigh of relief:

"Whew! Good catch, Shuy! Now, please pass it to Vivi."

"No! I warn you, Eterna will be in deep trouble if Vivi throws this orb at her."

"But this is the only item that can stop her. Do you have any suggestion that can bring her down?"

"No…but!"

"We have no choice! It is for her own good, and the world!"

Vivi took the orb from Shuy and spoke to her, "It is okay, I know the outcome."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Her diary stated so."

"If you say so…"

Vivi assured her, "It will be fine!"

Hydreigon took Vivi up towards Eterna. As Eterna was still charging, Vivi threw the orb at her. This time, Eterna could not avoid it. The orb shone so brightly that everything around that area became white. All the group could hear was Eterna shrieked in pain. And when the light faded, everything was back to normal, and the group saw Eterna back to her Braixen form on the ground. They rushed to her and nudged her, but there was no response. Hydreigon then lowered Vivi down, and put her right 'hand' onto Eterna. She sensed no soul in her.

She stuttered, "This is…no…I."

"Is she okay?" enquired Vivi.

"She is gone."

The rest were alarmed by the news. Vivi cried in denial:

"But her diary stated that the orb just remove her Curse Power! How can it be?"

Shuy then tackled her and cried in anguish, "You DID not know the outcome, aren't you?"

"What…do you mean?"

"I saw her…in my Dimensional Scream, she was up there, that is, beyond our reach!"

Vivi argued, "I…didn't know you mean _that_!"

"It is too late! Now…we can't do anything." Shuy succumbed to her sobbing.

Grendon then stood in and said, "She can still be saved."

"No, not for Eterna." responded Hydreigon sadly, "Eterna was created differently. Light will not revive her…"

Maginvade said, "Then what we can do? I cannot take this…"

She walked away, swiping her tears.

But Grendon was persistent, "I do not mean about that. I can transfer what is in me into her instead."

Hydreigon was bewildered by his explanation, then she realised what he was hinting.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I lied when I said It had become an emotion. The truth is, It has been speaking to me ever since I saved It. And now, It is prepared to save Eterna. But based on the Law of Sacrifice, It will lose Its mind and, Its power as a replacement for the requirement of a soul, for her lost soul to return back into her body."

Vivi was astonished of what she had heard, "You mean…Dark Matter? If It is okay with it, let's do it!"

"Very well. It shall be done."

Grendon put his forehead onto Eterna's heart. He closed his eyes, and slowly but surely, 'something' flowed out of him into her.

* * *

"This is my second time to be here. Ah, maybe next time, I will be a normal living being huh?"

Eterna spoke to herself as she gently stroke the petal of a white turnip. All of a sudden, white and black beings appeared in front of her. They were in their humanoid shape, and around the same size and height of hers. The black being spoke first:

"Your efforts were marvellous, Eterna. But do you truly want to abandon your power so much?"

Eterna stood up and replied, "All it brings is destruction, not matter how much I tried to control myself. This power is certainly not needed in the universe. But…may I ask, are you the true Darkness, and the other is Light?"

The white being commented, "Indeed we are. We have always watch you from above, and visit you when your life ends in the world I created."

"I see. But why did I have so much Curse Power?"

"That is…Darkness wanted you to have it. Your Curse Power, it isn't as destructive as a typical dark power. Usually, it doesn't destroy physical things. But when you were in your dragon form, it mimics the effects of a fire that can burn anything into nothingness. But to gain that form only happens after you absorbed a lot of darkness. Otherwise, we are confident that you know how to use your power for good, which you did many times."

"That is…too much of a burden to me. I want to live normally when I am reincarnated. Will you…fulfil my wishes?"

"That…my dear, it is not the time for your next awakening. Though, we have a visitor that can help you."

Eterna turned around and was surprised to see a black mist approached her. It said:

"Greetings Eterna, and your true _parents_. I am Dark Matter, created on Earth. It seems I arrived in at awkward time, am I?"

She asked, "Dark Matter? What are you doing here?"

"I am here to sacrifice myself to revive you."

"I rejected."

"Even though your friends begged you to live? Eterna, you should be happy that your friends care for you even though you have that power within you. Your friends aren't afraid of you, they are willing to help you. And you decided to live everything behind?"

"I…"

"Come on, don't you really want to be together with them?"

"I guess I am too stubborn to accept that there are people, and Pokémons, that need me."

"So, are you willing to be revived by me? Well, your power had been taken away by the power of light, so isn't you kind of living normally from now on?"

"That…did not cross my mind. Yeah, I am already rid of my power, huh?"

Light commented, "It seems Pixie's power is formidable. Well, I accepted your judgement to have your power removed, but Darkness might not be pleased."

"I am alright with your decision. Besides, it is never my intention to see you suffer from my mistakes, Eterna. I must be a bad parent for creating you…"

She responded, "Of course you are! But when I think about it, if I am not created, I won't meet such wonderful friends, or embark on world saving adventures. I say…I forgive you by…fifty percent."

"That is…an improvement from the last time you argued against me, haha."

She then faced at Dark Matter, "Alright, I shall agree to the revival process. What do I need to do?"

"All you have to do is to touch my mist."

"That is…simple. Alright, I am returning back to the surface, my _parents_."

Light nodded and said, "We will always be watching you. Take care and enjoy the life we have given you."

Darkness continued, "We can't be beside you, but my wish is to hope that this time, you feel that you have accomplished many things in life. Don't doubt yourself, and just go ahead and help others. Even if there are sacrifices, it can't be help if it means to save many more others. This is how the balance of life and death goes."

"I will keep these in mind. I feel better after listening to the both of you. Okay, I guess this is goodbye then."

Eterna touched the tip of the black mist. As the scenery began to blur, she observed Light and Darkness waving goodbyes to her. Eterna smiled at them back, and then everything faded to black. Eventually, a voice was heard. It was from Vivi:

"Eterna? Please wake up!"

Eterna opened her eyes to see Vivi, Shuy, Maginvade, Grendon and Hydreigon beside her in tears, but were overjoyed to see her awake. They hugged her, and Eterna was blushing.

"Oh Eterna! You are alright! I thought you are gone…" said Vivi.

"You really gave us a cardiac arrest back there." mentioned Maginvade.

"I am so glad…that you are here right now." responded Shuy.

"I hope, you are feeling alright now." concerned Grendon.

Hydreigon smiled, "That is not a concern for her right now, isn't it Eterna?"

Eterna tried to summon her Curse Power, but nothing came out of her. She laughed, "I guess. Oh goody, I am a normal Braixen now."

Vivi decided to question her as she can't bottom up her feelings anymore, "By the way, why you didn't stated the truth in your diary, Eterna? You were killed because of me!"

"I did not lie. 'Remove my Curse Power' is the truth; it is only that I did not include the part that I will die. If I add that, you won't do it even if I destroyed this planet, aren't you? But, I thank you for removing the Curse Power in me."

"That…I have to digress, I will use the white orb if that is the case. But, I am glad that you are back with us. Please don't do anything reckless again."

"I assure you, this is my last time I will be doing this. But argh…to have Dark Matter to save my life."

"You knew?" asked Grendon.

"Of course! It offered Its help. Well, it is gone, entirely, to revive me. But I don't feel that bad for Its sacrifice at all…"

Hydreigon decided to break the ice, "You know what? We should celebrate the return of Eterna!"

Shuy agreed, "Oh good idea! Where should we start?"

"Right here! The resident Pokémons are already here, let's start the party now! Woot!"

The rest did not realised that the resident Pokémons were watching them. But since Hydreigon was cheering, the resident Pokémons danced around as well. There was some Explouds oomph some loud music, and some others bringing food into the party. Everyone were having a great time, and especially Vivi as she got the chance to dance with Eterna.

* * *

The party lasted till midnight. The group thanked the resident Pokémons for their efforts in making the party a success, and returned back to Serene Village. There, the group headed to The Tree of Friendship. And they gazed at the village from there, and at the stars above.

"You know…I think it is time for me to see you girls off." said Vivi.

"Now? Do we have to return back to our homeland right now?" asked Maginvade.

Hydreigon answered, "Well yes, I think your world needs saving too. We can't hold the three of you in here for too long. But I think, there is no better time to leave this world. Nobody else will notice your departure."

"Oh…I guess you are right. Zack must be having trouble doing so many rescuing missions. Even outsourcing to our friends is not enough…" replied Shuy.

"But are you determine to see us go...now?" Eterna spoke to Vivi.

"Yes…It pains for me to do this, but it is best that we say our goodbyes here. We might meet each other again someday, so I…am not sad."

"Actually, I will be sad that I will be away from my best friend. And not sure when I am able to visit you again. So, I would like you to keep my sling bags and my diary as gifts for you to remember us."

"So are we!" said Shuy and Maginvade together as they passed their sling bags to her and well, including their Looplets. Maginvade also returned her Alliance Looplet back to Vivi. As Vivi looked at the stuffs in front of her, she began to cry a little.

"You know," she said, "I am happy that we went for adventures together. I had such a great time with you all. I thanked you in the bottom of my heart for saving my world, and be my best friends."

Eterna spoke in gratitude, "I should say the same to you, Vivi. Thank you for making sure I don't overdo things, though I still did some…"

"Yeah! You are a great leader, Vivi! I am so proud to be with you!" applauded Maginvade.

"No one is as brave and kind as you. And I have to apologise for blaming you just now." mentioned Shuy.

"It is fine. Everyone makes mistakes. It is how they atone for them that counts. Okay, if we chat more, I will be reluctant to see you all go. Hydreigon, please send them away."

Maginvade objected, "Hey hey! Who says we are ready to go now? Let's write something in Eterna's diary!"

Each of them wrote some lines on the blank page of Eterna's diary. When they finished, Vivi read theirs, and then hers, and said:

"Thank you…We will…one day come together again, and go for an adventure once more!"

The team cheered.

Grendon on the other hand, shook hands with the three foreigners. He said, "Thank you for taking care of Vivi. And, sorry that I cannot do much for the three of you as I do not have much power than I had before. I wish you all the best, and I hope we can meet each other again."

"No problem! We are glad to help." Shuy answered for themselves.

Hydreigon then spoke, "Okay, I guess this is it. I need the three of you to stand away from Vivi and Grendon."

They did as they were told. Hydreigon summoned a portal above them; it was a swirling white. As the trio were levitating into the portal, Vivi shouted to them:

"Thank you so much, Shuy, Maginvade and Eterna! I have lots to say, but…I shall say this as the final saying: Let's be the best rescue teams we ever were!"

Shuy chuckled, "I am already am. I would like to see you do the same, Vivi!"

"I am more of a reckless team leader, so it is gonna be hard to achieve that goal to me. But I will try!" giggled Maginvade.

Eterna commented, "I am still relatively new in doing missions. But with Chestnut by my side, nothing can stop us from rescuing anyone. I hope…I can be as good as you, Vivi."

After Eterna had finished her words, the trio entered the portal and it vanished. Vivi looked up at the twinkling stars, wiped her tears with her leaf and laughed a little:

"It is time for me to buckle up and show how capable I am! Alright Grendon, shall we go back to The Pokémon Expedition Society to work in the morning tomorrow?"


	14. Special Chapter

**Special Chapter: Who is Stronger?**

"Are you ready for this?" Vivi was squaring off at Eterna.

Eterna replied with pride, "I have learned nine Arcane Techniques under Queen Lilla for a year. I will not be easily defeated!"

Vivi and Eterna were at the top of Revelation Mountain, preparing for a battle to determine who was the strongest in the team now since Eterna had forsaken her Curse Power. Shuy, Maginvade and Grendon were the only audiences, and to make sure that the battle was fair, and no items were used.

As Vivi acknowledged that Eterna was ready, her Harmony Scarf began to glow and when it vanished, she evolved into her final form: Meganium. Eterna, on the other hand, took out her brown staff out of her tail, and lit the tip of it on fire. The battlers stared at each other for a while, and then Vivi spoke:

"Let's begin!"

Vivi started her attack first. She stomped on the ground, causing an earthquake. Eterna was surprised of this move, and she nearly lost her footings. Vivi then followed up with Ancient Power at her. Eterna noticed the attack, and used Teleport. She appeared beside Vivi and said:

"Using a strong attack in the beginning huh? How about this?"

She casted a flame on the tip of her wand, and swung it to spread the fire. The fires stayed on the spot she wanted to, and she backed away. Vivi was amused:

"Do you expect me to touch those flames?"

Eterna commented, "Well, at least you don't dare to approach them, aren't you?"

Vivi used Ancient Power. This time there were more rocks bursting out of the ground. Each of them extinguished the fires that Eterna had set up. Eterna was irritated that her strategy did not work. She then created Heat Edge: arrow-like flames that surrounded her, and directed them at Vivi using her staff. Vivi nimbly dodged all the attacks, and used another Earthquake. Eterna lost her balance, which Vivi used this chance and bombarded her with Ancient Power. Eterna teleported in time before the rocks hit her, and this time, she had distanced herself away from her.

Eterna took a breather. Then, she twirled her wand in a wave formation. All of a sudden, a wall of fire spread on the ground around Vivi. The fire radiated harmful rays like a sun, causing Vivi to feel the intense pain in her skin. Eterna hoped that this attack would buy her some time to summon another powerful move, but instead, Vivi doused the flames using her Earthquake. Now, there were fissures in the ground, so both of the battlers had to be careful where they were trampling on.

Vivi summoned Frenzy Plant this time. The roots shot out of the fissures, aiming to wrap Eterna. The vixen managed to avoid the attack using her Ignite Boost, and once the attack had ceased, she casted Fog to blind her opponent. Vivi coughed from the smoke, and that was a giveaway to Eterna as she knew where she was. Eterna then raised her staff and shouted:

"Nova Eruption!"

This time, a pillar of blue fire shot out of where Vivi was standing. The fire was so hot that Vivi felt her body was being grilled. She stomped the ground again to stop the fire. But this time, it did not work.

"This fire will not end until my energy has run out or I lose concentration. This is the end for you, Vivi!" said Eterna.

Vivi shouted, "I will not give up!"

Before Eterna could react, the plant roots came behind her and wrapped around her. She gasped as the roots squeezed her tightly. Eterna wanted to get out of it, but one of the roots knocked her staff away. Now she was defenceless in this attack. In a desperate measure, she summoned two Nebula Guardians to burn the roots. The fire warriors shaped like herself rescued her, and placed her on the ground. The vixen panted for air, and she realised that her Nova Eruption had ended, and Vivi was using Synthesis to heal her injuries. Thinking it was not fair she had a healing move this time, she instructed her guardians to attack Vivi. As Vivi was pitting against them with Ancient Power, Eterna casted Psionic Shield to protect her guardians. Now her guardians could attack Vivi in close range without worrying they would be defeated. The fire warriors punched Vivi, and each of their fire punches dealt her a serious blow. Vivi then proclaimed she had lost the match. Coincidentally, the fire warriors had vanished as well, and Vivi saw Eterna lying on the ground. The vixen seemed to have fainted from exhausting too much energy.

"And the winner is…Vivi!" shouted Grendon.

"I thought Eterna would win since she has the type advantage!" commented Maginvade.

"Maybe so, but you know Eterna doesn't really conserve her energy well…" mentioned Shuy.

Grendon nodded, "And that how it is! Though right now, we need to patch up the holes on the ground…"

/

It was an hour after the battle. Eterna was revived by a Revival Seed, and the group had their lunch under the afternoon sun. Vivi, who was back to her Chikorita form, requested Eterna to fulfil the bet. The bet was for her to summon her vault so that the group could retrieve their items. Eterna sighed and said:

"I cannot guarantee I can do this, but I shall try."

She closed her eyes and focused her mind. She was trying to look for the dimensional space she had created using her Curse Power. However, she knew that she would fail to do this as the dimensional space was dependent on her availability of her Curse Power. Without it, the space would collapse. After for a while, she decided to give up.

"Nope, I can't do this. Maybe you should have bet on something _achievable_ , Vivi."

"But I stored something valuable in there!" said Vivi.

"And what is this valuable thing you spoke off? I pretty sure you only stored your food and health items in my vault."

"Yes it is a food item. It is called Golden Banana. Eat this, and you can instantly evolve, permanently!"

"Goodness, that is extremely rare! And you stored this in my vault?"

Vivi looked down and muttered, "I never thought you will get rid of your Curse Power…"

Eterna comforted her, "Fine. If that is the case, I will do my upmost best to get it for you."

Vivi cheered, "Yes, please!"

"So how are you going to do this, Eterna?" questioned Maginvade.

"To strike a deal with Cofagrigus of course! Let's go to Lively Town."

The group made their way to the town. There, they saw Cofagrigus laughing creepily behind his counter. Eterna greeted him.

"Hello, sir. May I purchase a Golden Banana?"

He replied, "Sure! It cost you 35 Gold. Hohoho!"

"About that, would it be okay if you can give this for free to our heroine Vivi here? She deserves the reward from saving the world."

"No can do! This item is rare, and somehow I managed to get it by _all means._ I can't just give to you for free!"

"Then how about this. Why don't you tell me where you get this item from?"

"It is a trade secret; I can't tell you."

"Hmm. Okay then, if that is the case, I guess we can't agree on something. Thank you for your time, sir.

As the group about to walk off, Cofagrigus said two words:

"Plantain Hill."

Eterna turned around and said, "Thanks for the tips."

As the group were at a reasonable distance away from the Ghost Coffin Pokémon, Shuy questioned Eterna:

"Why did he mention about this place to you?"

Eterna replied cunningly, "Well, I read his mind of the location of this treasure, and I injected some words into his mind. I stated that his secrets cannot be hidden from me, for I can lurk into his mind and control it. That is enough to spook him."

"Telepathy?! Hold on, you didn't use this during the battle with Vivi, aren't you?"

Eterna laughed, "If I did, I would be untouchable. Oh well, I have a lot of training to be a good mage. Anyway, why don't we discuss about getting that treasure at the beach?"

The group reached the beach. It was already late afternoon; and many Pokémons were wadding in the water, or running around on the sand. Eterna led the group to the docks where Lapras was waiting. Since Lapras was good in keeping secrets, Eterna decided to talk about the location of the treasure.

"Alright. From what I know, Plantain Hill is situated at the southern ends of Fire Island Volcano. Yup, it seems that Golden Banana Trees love the soil there. The problem is, we will be trekking on Entei's domain. We might have to battle him for the rights to reach the hill."

Vivi said, "Well, Entei is a sort of…proud beast. He is very powerful too, we might not be able to win him. The last time Grendon and I fought against him; we were in our final evolution form, and we barely won the battle."

Grendon replied confidently, "Nah, this time it will be a piece of cake! We have three more friends by our sides. All we need to do is the plan our attacks if we have to fight him."

Shuy asked, "So what do we need to do to win him then? I can use my Dimensional Scream, but I have to be present at the battlefield. It might not be wise to leave me undefended in battle, so I must as well join in the fight."

Vivi answered, "Basically, it is best to use an attack with a wide radius to impede his movement, and then use distance attacks. If possible, of course."

Eterna folded her arms and spoke in deep thought, "Tricky. I could slow him down using Psychic, but mysteriously, I cannot use it for I can only use my Arcane Techniques. He is a Fire Type right? Most of my moves will be useless against him. Hmmm, I can act as a distraction since I have Ignite Boost. What do you think?"

Maginvade voiced her opinion, "It is a good idea, but the three of us are Grass Type; won't it be better if you can cast shields on us as well?"

"No. I won't have enough energy to protect all of you. That is why I volunteered to act as a distraction, and I can relay the messages into your mind of what attack he will be using."

Grendon praised her strategy, "Nice! As for me, I can use Water Pulse to limit his movement. I can also use Mud Slap to blind him temporary. I feel that I will be targeted first since I have the advantage. It would be great for Eterna to provide cover for me to continue the assault."

Maginvade said, "I shall stick to my Aqua Tail. Going in for the kill is my kind of thing, hehe. I guess this battle might take a while."

Eterna spoke, "Alright, I think we are ready to face him. Shall we go now?"

Vivi responded, "Give me a moment. I need to retrieve one item from the Deposit Box."

Vivi headed back to the town. As for the group, Grendon conversed to Eterna about something he had in mind:

"You know, since you ARE one and only true dark creation, even with your power was gone, you can…still gain it back."

Eterna frowned, "I do not want to. Besides, if that is the case, all of you can use the power of light. But you don't know how to utilise it, or bother to use it? I want to live normally with all of you…"

"I understand. But about using light power, we are unable to, unless for a chosen few that are granted the ability to do so. And you are chosen to have Curse Power. There is must be a reason behind this."

"A reason? Hmm…I did not ask _them_ why, but _It_ seemed eager for me to keep it. Oh well, not that my decision to forgo my Curse Power will plunge the universe into chaos or something."

Grendon respected her decision, "True enough."

Shuy joined the conversation, "I don't mean to offend you, Eterna, but I think it is best that you don't reclaim your power back. For me, able to see the future, or the past using my ability, I can see some occasions that you will endanger the lives of Pokémons. That is why I try my best to change the present, so that we will not encounter that scenario in the future."

"Did I take their lives too?" enquired Eterna.

"No. But all I see is black sea of flames…"

"There." Eterna told Grendon, "That is a good enough reason for me not to get it back."

"Though, I saw something in a far future, I believe. There are legendary Pokémons represent the Sun, and the moon, respectfully. They fought, and the Earth was in turmoil: forest fire, volcanic eruptions, rising sea tides, and so on. This is a disaster at a cosmic level."

Maginvade interrupted her, "This is something we can't change, aren't we? Just let the nature takes it course, and when it comes, we will do something about it. Right now, we are planning to harvest one Golden Banana, so don't ponder about something complicated, alright guys?"

The group agreed, and sat down to relax their legs while waiting for Vivi. Soon enough, she came running towards them.

"Okay!" she panted, "Let's us depart!"

Lapras finally spoke, "Good. I have waited long to take you all to that island. Hop on!"

It took five days for Lapras to reach Fire Island Volcano. Upon arrival in the afternoon, the giant volcano, which occupied about seventy percent of the island, was spewing hot rocks and lava. It was not a huge eruption, but that signified how active the volcano was.

The group alighted from Lapras. The Loch ness-like Pokémon spoke:

"Okay. I will be staying around here until all of you have arrived back. Good luck in your adventures!"

The group thanked her, and made their way to the southern side of the volcano. By doing so, they trekked into the forest, and encountered many resident Pokémons eager for a battle. The group won all the battles, and finally they reached the openings where they could see a green hill. Maginvade and Eterna instinctively knew it was Plantain Hill because of the wide glossy leaves of the trees, and the golden crescent-shaped fruits they bear. They walked to the hill, and plucked one Golden Banana out of the banana bunch. Shuy stared at the fruit; wanting to eat one, but Vivi told her not to eat it.

"Unless you want to evolve into Grotle, which is more clumsy and gluttony than you are." she said.

"Not a problem. I can finally become a tank user to protect myself from attacks. Can I eat a bunch? Please?"

"Your hunger knows no bounds. Still, it is best not to eat a lot of these. These plants are only native to this island; we should leave the rest for other adventurers to find them, isn't it?"

"May I ask; do these bananas rot? They are golden in colour, like real gold." asked Maginvade.

Grendon answered, "From what I know, these plants only produce a bunch of Golden Bananas once in their lifetime, and their fruits will never decay. That is why the Golden Banana is an incredible treasure. It doesn't taste like metal, mind you."

"Ooh. Ok, we shouldn't harvest another one since it is rare and all."

Shuy sounded disappointed, "I see. I guess I can settle for my berries then."

Vivi decided to say a good news, "On a good note, we weren't attacked by Entei. Let's make our getaway as quick as possible."

The group climbed down the hill. When they reached the opening, they noticed a flaming beast, with crystals on his back and a grey scarf-like fur wavering in the wind, waiting for them.

He said, "So…I see you took one Golden Banana…without my permission?"

Vivi responded, "Umm…I didn't know we _need_ your permission to harvest one, Entei."

"Oh? I shall make an exception since you have done many good deeds for us. However, one of you must battle me. If you win, I can allow you to harvest a bunch of Golden Bananas. There won't be any losses if you lose."

Maginvade whispered to Vivi, "Vivi, this sounds like a great bargain! But the problem is; only one of us has to battle him. Who is going to do that?"

"I can do it. I am well-prepared to face him."

"Alright, good luck to you, our leader!"

"Thanks!"

Vivi walked forward to Entei and spoke, "I shall be your opponent."

Entei roared, "Very well! Let's do it, now!"

Vivi transformed into her final form using the Harmony Scarf. She took out a blue orb from her sling bag, and threw it in the air. The orb shone brightly, and the clouds began to gather. Soon, a deluge soaked the battlefield. Entei was weakened a little, and he could not avoid Vivi's Earthquake. In a fury, Entei retaliated with Lava Plume, but the hot rocks erupted from the ground were doused in rain, and became like a Rock Slide attack. Vivi jumped backwards to avoid the attack, and countered with Ancient Power. While Entei was trying to avoid her attack, she took out a Violent Seed and ate it. She then used another Ancient Power. This time, her special rock attack had a greater radius; and more rocks as well. Entei was hit, and eventually, he was covered in them. Vivi assumed that she had won the battle.

Entei howled, "Not yet!"

All of a sudden, the rocks became so hot that even water could not cool them down. He flung the hot rocks at Vivi. She then protected herself using Frenzy Plant. As she expected, Entei managed to run behind her and showed his fangs; readily his Fire Fang. As Vivi was at a disadvantage in close combat, she had no choice but to ram her head onto Entei's right neck. He roared in pain, and collapsed on the ground. Vivi then finished him off with Earthquake. The move pushed the ground upwards and covered him, and he fainted in the process. Now, Vivi had indeed won the battle.

The group were amazed of Vivi's successful attempt to win Entei in one on one battle, and she was not injured at all. The group was convinced that if Vivi was allowed to use items against Eterna, she would win easily due to her vast knowledge in utilising items.

As the battle ended, the rain stopped, and Vivi reverted to her Chikorita form. She leapt happily as she finally could defeat a legendary beast. Her friends also applauded her of her efforts, and patted her on her back. Now they could take a bunch of Golden Bananas back home!

Eterna volunteered to distribute the Golden Bananas to everyone in the group evenly, and they stored them in their sling bag. She also mentioned:

"Well, let's hope that no one can smell the sweetness of the Golden Bananas."

"I will keep an eye on Shuy. I suspect she may steal our bags for these." humoured Maginvade.

"Hey! I know about courtesy, and I can restrain myself from eating if I am told not to! Sometimes I can't help it as being a Turtwig, I have a huge appetite. If you have seen me in human form, I am pretty fit, you know?"

"No one is questioning your size, Shuy. Though you are making me curious of what you look like in human form."

"That is…if Arceus in my world allows it. Ah, I did not tell you about His involvement in me? Aren't you?"

"Yeah, please tell us about it."

Shuy took a breather, and then continued, "You see, I am not the original Shuy. I am a clone created by Arceus, and I should have no memories of my human self. However, my original self communicated to me using Dimensional Scream in my sleep. And she told me all I need to know. I might not retain the original memories, but at least that puts me at ease of having no more holes in my memories."

Maginvade shrugged, "That's deep. Now I am pretty sure I am the most _uninteresting_ girl here."

Shuy gave her impression of Maginvade, "You are the most enthusiastic, and brave person to me, even when you might be underpowered than the opponents."

She laughed, "Haha, yes. I must admit; this is my strong point."

Eterna joked at Maginvade,"You are still the most annoying girl to me."

"Hey! I am pretty sure I did not irritate you in any kind, including the times we were rescuing in the mystery dungeons."

Vivi interrupted, "Alright alright, we need to wake Entei up. We can't just leave him like this as no one is guarding the volcano right now."

Eterna disagreed, "I say, just leave him be. From what I heard from you and Grendon's story about him, he would brag A LOT."

Vivi said firmly, "I will still do it. We just need to endure whatever he says."

"If you say so…"

Vivi dug up the soil that covered Entel and put a Revival Seed his forehead. He immediately woke up, and shook his body to get rid of the sand in this fur. He growled:

"Argh, this is the most humiliating defeat I ever had. Kudos to you, Vivi."

Vivi replied, "I just did what I can to win a battle, Entei. Overall, I am still not as powerful as you."

"Of course. I have been training in the volcano crater since I was born. By the way, have you heard of a battle of me against Therian Landorus? You know that he has the upper advantage of being an airborne deity, and has Rock Type moves, but I…"

While Entei was explaining about this triumph over Landorus, Eterna excused herself, and walked behind her friends; performing Flame Trap to have the levitating flames to dry her fur. Maginvade observed her and wanted to follow suit, but she knew if she went over as well, Entei would be furious. She had no choice but to listen to his story.

He continued, "…my Sacred Fire hit him as he was in my line of sight! He surrendered, and gave me a hair from his beard as a trophy. And ever since then, he never request for a rematch. I guess he must have his hands full from blessing the crops somewhere in this world."

"That is great! Umm Entei? Sorry, but we need to go back now. It is a long trip back home for us." requested Vivi.

"Is it? Alright, feel free to drop by for a rematch! I will find a way to win you, Vivi!"

"Yes, I will inform you when I am ready."

The group made their way to where Lapras was waiting. Lapras smiled at them and said:

"It seems that your mission has been accomplished. I guess we shall return to Lively Town?"

Vivi replied, "Yup. Let's head back."

As Lapras was shuttling the group on the sea at night, Eterna looked at the stars, and visible space cloud that was part of the Milky Way. She spoke to her friends:

"I been thinking…if something catastrophic will occur in the future in this world, even with my Arcane Techniques won't be enough to save it. But together with you girls, I am sure we will find ways to prevent all these from happening. Let's get stronger in anticipation of this foretold event!"

Shuy commented, "It might happen, or not, depending on our choices. But yes, I agree we need to get stronger so that we can face tougher foes."

Maginvade suggested, "We might have to evolve for this. Besides, we aren't kids anymore, aren't we? Vivi is the oldest, and yet she is still a Chikorita, haha."

Vivi nodded, "We shall see into that. Well for now, why don't we have a light dinner? Lapras, do you want an Oran Berry?"

"Thank you for your concern, but I am fine. I already have my fill of seaweeds and sea kelps." said Lapras with gratitude.

"Ah. Isn't it is nice to eat under the stars?" awed Grendon, "We can see the whole sky here. It makes me think that each of the stars represents the multiverses."

"Well, I guess two of the stars represent the universes where Eterna and I, and Shuy, came from." responded Maginvade.

Eterna agreed, "Yup! Anyway, is there any other place we should go? Since we are here and all, and we do have four more days of vacation before we go back to our worlds."

Vivi was exuberant "Let's go to Sacred Ruins Mystery Dungeon! This is the toughest dungeon in the world! No items, and our powers will be reduced. It has thirty-nine floors too."

Eterna admitted, "Well, we can't cheat this time. This will be a challenge. Sure, why not? We can gain more experiences in this dungeon."

"I am ready for anything!" cheered Maginvade.

"I can still use my ability, so we still have a slightly upper hand? But the problem is finding food in the dungeon. Well, I can persevere." said Shuy.

Grendon spoke, "It seems that this dungeon allows four explorers per entry, so I guess I have to be exempted from this. No worries, I will wait at the entrance of that dungeon."

"So, do you want me to send all of you to the area closest to that dungeon then?" asked Lapras.

"Yes please." all of them replied together.

"Very well, off we go then!"

On their journey towards their destination, little did they know that the dungeon housed ancient secrets of the Pokémon's ancestries, which would affect their opinions of Pokémons in the future.


End file.
